The Sociological Imagination SOC10004 ASSIGNMENT 1 Katya Verejanu s 102744847 Dr Hadi Sohrabi | 875 WORDS
The Sociological Imagination, the relationship between "private troubles" and "public issues". According to C. Wright Mills, the sociological imagination contains the capacity to recognize that private troubles are entrenched in public issues. C. Wright Mills discusses that individuals recently experience that their private lives are trapped which are difficult to overcome. The explanations presented by Mills suggest that in a manner how we perceive the world around us may help us become wiser, saner and make better choices that affect our lives as individuals and also through our governments. The sociological imagination claims on understanding individuals' personal lives (biographies) together with their broader social and historical background (in history). Mills argues the differences between "private troubles" and "public issues" and emphasizes that there are several forms which in turn some of them affect people and have large-scale sociological causes. Both public issues and personal troubles include unemployment, poverty, racism, drug policy and many others. This essay will discuss how sociological imagination, the instrument which makes individuals objectively see how the life of individuals is formed by history and society (Mills, 1978, p. 14), which will help us see how education, labour market and affording a household is affected by economic inequality. Mills (1978, p.15) suggest that it becomes a public issue when individuals face the same problem. Argy (2003, p.1) claims that through the practice of sociological imagination, it can be see that Australia has a satisfied inheritance of egalitarianism. Australia described as "the lucky country" (Horne, 1964) and having "a fair go" (Huang, Perales & Western 2016), with the introduction of televised capitalistic ideals, people wanted to earn and spend more. Argy (2003, p.1) suggests that the beginning of 20th century there 1
was lots of prospects for rising movement for the once who worked hard and often saved. The second half of 20th century entered a new era and globalization became the new commercial model. To remain competitive globally, businesses and corporations made operations more efficient by introducing IT, advanced technology and outsourcing cheap labour workers. According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (2001, 2017) unemployment statistics showed changes from 2% (1966) to 11% (1993) and 6% (2017). The sociological imagination helps us to understand and see that economy can have an impact on the labour market. In addition, using sociological imagination one can realise that an unemployed individual may experience similar difficulties as many others in finding work. Marks (2015) argues that it is not necessary to have deep understanding of sociological imagination to see that the poorer Australians are affected by the economic inequality and that in order to secure employment it is imperative to acquire quality education. The individuals raised in families with low income are more likely to miss out on academic stimulus as they do not have the same financial advantage as the once raised in high income families (McLaughlin & Sheridan 2016, p. 242). Another disadvantage they