Slide 1
The Sociological Imagination
Week Three
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Slide 2
The Sociological Imagination, “The Promise”
“Zeitgeist” circa 1959
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-
Fear of nuclear war
Soviet and Chinese communist threats to the
West (Cold War)
- Growing power of the Military Industrial Complex
- Growth of white collar work and routinized work
(alienation)
- Traditional values (e.g., relationship to work)
are threatened
- Memories are still fresh of Nazi Germany and its
bureaucratic system of mass killing
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Slide 3
Mills’ theme:
entrapment of the individual, anxiety, and apathy
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Mills was concerned about how people are swept
up by social changes.
The rural person becomes a factory worker when
society is industrialized.
The craftsperson becomes a white-collar worker or
clerk.
Today: the welfare recipient becomes a low-wage
worker.
Yet, people don’t usually define their problems as
related to social change or social forces.
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Slide 4
Mills’ basic arguments
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Human beings cannot be understood apart from the social
and historical structures that surround them.
Modern life is dominated by growing bureacuracies and
rapid technological change.
Mills’ focus was on the rise of white-collar workers who are
dependent on the bureaucracy.
As more and more jobs are de-skilled and subject to strict
bureaucratic regulation, people become alienated from
their work and their humanity.
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Slide 5
The Solution: The Sociological Imagination
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A quality of mind needed to understand the
world
One that enables people to make sense of
what they are feeling
Sociological imagination reduces “false
consciousness”
Enables us to see the connection between
private troubles and public issues
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Slide 6
Questions for Discussion

With the passing of industrialization, we get
“McJobs” – or low-paying service work. How does
this type of historical change affect individual
biographies? Try to do a Mills’ style analysis of
the shift from industrial jobs/white collar jobs to
service jobs. If you are more familiar with the local
economy of Hawai‛i, try to think about this as an
example.
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Slide 7
Questions for Discussion

Mills questions the “psychologizing” of
everyday problems. What does he mean by
this? To what extent is this a problem today?
What are the implications of interpreting
people’s issues as simply psychological in
nature? Are there problems with interpreting
people’s problems as simply social in
nature?
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Slide 8
Questions for Discussion


Discuss how musical or other artists employ
the “sociological imagination.” Cite examples
from rap or other music, movies, or novels
you’re familiar with. Give examples.
What about the “ice” epidemic? Can we use
the sociological imagination to analyze this
problem? How?
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Slide 9
Social Structure
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Lindsey & Beach 2003
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Slide 10
Social Structure – relatively stable patterns of social
interaction that characterize human life
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Social structure involves three levels
–
–
–
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The individual level includes statuses and roles
The group level includes primary and secondary
groups
The societal level contains formal organizations
and institutions
Lindsey & Beach 2003
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Slide 11
Status and Role
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Status – the social position an individual occupies
Individuals occupy various statuses
– Student, worker, mother, friend, African-American
– Not all of these statues are of equal rank or value
(Status inconsistency)
- Statuses provide clues as to who a person is and
what can be expected of them – we learn how to
interact with that person
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Slide 12
Status Types
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Achieved vs. Ascribed Status
Achieved status is a position resulting from a
person’s own efforts or skills, e.g., education.
Ascribed status is present at birth or assigned based
on factors outside one’s control.
Master status determines one’s identity – a status so
powerful that other statuses may be ignored, e.g.,
President of France, convict, priest
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Slide 13
Role

Role
* Involves the norms linked to a certain status
* Expectations placed on a particular status
* Roles guide us in decided what to do & what to
expect.
* Varied statuses mean varied roles – sometimes
the expectations associated with these roles are in
conflict. (Role Conflict)
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Slide 14
Social Groups – two or more persons;
regular interaction; sense of solidarity or
group identity
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Primary groups
–
–
–
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Small, rather permanent
group, typically
emotionally close and
personal
Shared activities and
time
Important in shaping
identity
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Secondary groups
–
–
–
Usually larger groups;
impersonal; nonemotional or neutral
feelings
Has a specific activity or
goal
Endures over time but
membership changes
Lindsey & Beach 2003
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Slide 15
The Continuum from Primary to
Secondary Groups
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Lindsey & Beach 2003
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Slide 16
Formal Organizations and Institutions
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Formal Organizations
–
Large secondary group
designed for specific
tasks with complex
divisions of labor
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Institutions
–
–
Predictable established
ways to provide for one
or more of society’s
basic needs
Examples:
Family
Religion
Economy
Polity
Education
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Slide 17
The Evolution of Society:
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
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Notes the increasing movement of
human societies from simple to
complex
Interested in understanding the
maintenance of social cohesion in
light of the growing complexity of
society
Identifies two systems of social
organization:
–
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
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Slide 18
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
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Mechanical Solidarity
–
–
–
–
Characterizes most of
human history
Small in scale
Economic roles involve
multi-tasking
Cohesion maintained by
similar, small group
activities
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Organic Solidarity
–
–
–
Economic complexity &
larger size
Division of Labor –
Increased Specialization
Cohesion maintained
through institutional
interdependence
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Slide 19
The Evolution of Society:
Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-1936)
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Also examines the consequences
of societal change
Interested in the reshaping of
human associations through the
modernization of societies
Identifies two sets of human
associations
–
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft
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Slide 20
Gemeinschaft & Gesellschaft
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Gemeinschaft
- natural will (relations are
ends in themselves)
- small, rural groups
- custom & tradition
important
- relations are personal and
enduring
- kinship and ascribed status
- informal social control
(gossip)
- community important

Gesellschaft
- rational will (relations are
a means to an end)
- urban
- commercial activities
characterize interactions
- impersonal relationships
- achieved status
- temporary relationships
- formal rules
- individual important
Lindsey & Beach 2003
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Slide 21
Gerhard and Jean Lenski’s: Stages off Sociocultural Evolution
Economic Basis of
Society
First
appeared
Economic Basis
Extent of
Structured
Inequality
Hunting and
Gathering
Hunting wild game –
gathering wild plants
(most of human history)
250,000
years ago (or
more)
Hunting, gathering of
plants & fishing
Egalitarian except
some age and
gender distinctions
Horticultural
Gardens tended with
tools
12,000 to
10,00 years
ago
Gardens tended with
hand tools
Substantial
inequality emerges
Pastoral/
Agrarian
Fields plowed by draft
animals
12,000 to
6,000 years
ago
Domestication
Draft animals
Great extremes of
wealth and poverty
Industrial
Factories powered by
non animate energy
sources
200 years
ago
Factories powered by
machines & paid labor
Reduced inequality;
social classes;
substantial mobility
Postindustrial
Service and information
Emerging
Services &
information,
computers
Too early to
determine
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Slide 22
Gerhard and Jean Lenski’s
Stages of Sociocultural Evolution
The Lenski’s theory may be wrong about
reduced inequality associated with modern
and post-modern eras.
While some forms of inequality are being
reduced in industrialized societies, global
inequality is increasing between the nations
of the developed world and those of the
undeveloped world.
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Slide 23
Bur
eaucr
acy

Max Weber
– As society becomes more complex it needs a more
rational based system of organization to operate
efficiently
– Bureaucracy
 Division of Labor
 Written Regulations
 Documentation of Activities
 A Hierarchy of Authority
 Mobility tied to Objective Qualifications
 Impartiality
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Slide 24
Bureaucracies – A warning!
–
Bureaucracies will proliferate and
dominate modern society
–
The continual movement toward
rationalization will generate social systems
that are fundamentally dehumanizing.
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Slide 25
Bureaucratic Blues (Dysfunctions)
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Communication problems
Trained incapacity
Bureaucratic personalities
Bureaucratic ritualism
Goal displacement
Parkinson’s law (“look busy”!)
Peter Principle & hierarchies
Oligarchy – concentration of power
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Slide 26
Taming the Bureaucracy
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Scientific management (Taylorism)
Human relations – more equality
Collectivities – power is distributed, decisions
based on some consensus
Japanese model – lifetime employment,
consensus model, holistic training
Flexible bureaucracies – shared
responsibility, minimal hierarchy
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