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Sociological Imagination Summary

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“The Sociological Imagination”, written C. Wright Mills, illustrates the importance of individuals having an understanding of their relationship to society (2000). The perspective, created by the author, allows people to grasp the interconnection of their position in society to the institutions and history which have allowed for that position to exist. To understand one’s self through the sociological imagination method gives individuals the ability to see how their personal troubles are consequences of larger public issues; thus their personal troubles cannot solely be solved by their perseverance. Further, realizing that one’s position in life is determined largely by institutional and historical context will help them navigate the system …show more content…

Through their proposed method, called intersectionality, the authors discourage readers from ever separating race, class, or gender when considering the effects of a singular one. Further, to examine who is silenced and who is privileged and how this affects what information is available, intersectionality encourages consideration of the sources of knowledge. Rather than comparing the experiences of individuals with different identities, this framework looks at how, for example, the oppression of women cannot solely be studied by studying one group of schoolgirls with otherwise similar social standing (eg. Latina and middle class), that an exploration must include the class, and race (as well as other factors, including ability, sexuality, age etc); further, the study must include the boys, and adults involved, because to examine the oppressed one must also examine the oppressors and their relationship to class and race. Intersectionality offers a model which includes all factors which determine …show more content…

As capitalist institutions have evolved with the Protestant foundation, they do not include accommodations to those who are not as privileged, likely because the higher-ups can claim they made it there because of perseverance which proves they are chosen. Furthermore, Protestantism does not encourage reinvestment of money into the economy, thus people can keep the profit they make without guilt. Largely, the same people and institutions, and nations pass on their funds to the next generation, making it difficult for different groups to get money, thus inequality persists from Weber’s time to

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