C. Wright Mills, an American socioologist, coined the term “Sociological Imagination” in 1959. Mills defined “sociological imagination” in 1959 as “the vivid awareness and comparisons between personal and social experience.” Sociological imagination allows one to see the bigger picture. It allows one to see how the norms and changes within a society impact an average person. A company that fires its employees is one example of how this concept can be better understood. They would wonder if they put in the effort to retain their jobs, or if they could have done more.
If the worker was to use sociological imagination to view their situation, they might see that the reason for their loss of employment was not because of poor character. It was due to low-cost labour in another country, or a mass outsourcing of jobs. Macionis 9 provides an example. Social imagination is a powerful tool that allows people to recognize similarities and contrasts in personal and social experiences. My family and I took a camping trip to Livermore with a bunch of friends from our family. I had no idea who the other people were, and was completely unfamiliar with them all. After we had set up the tents, Chi Nguyen, one of my close friends, was introduced to me by my parents. Chi Nguyen, a 63-year-old Vietnamese woman, was friendly and welcoming. She was short and pale-skinned. However, she was energetic and seemed much younger than her real age. Chi was born in California’s poorest, Catholic region. Her mother was a journalist and her father was a field worker. Their lives were not easy, as they didn’t have the technology to make it easier for them to eat. As a child, education was not available to them. Despite this, she was a hard worker in school. She was the fourth of four children and enjoyed lots of love and support from her family and neighbors. Chi is able to recall the small community she lived in, how she treated everyone like family and how there were many houses where they could have many conversations. They would trade goods, wash each other’s clothing, and host potlucks and religious gatherings. According to her, it was difficult but beautiful. Chi met Khan, her husband, at a community college. They lived in the same house as her family. At the time, she saw no African Americans or Asian Americans in her locality. Chi married Khan when she was 24 years old, and the couple had their first child at 25. Because of the importance of her family, Chi didn’t think twice about having this many children. Chi never married anyone. This was because she believed in marriage and was deeply committed to her husband. Chi was part-time a cashier at grocery. She spent most of her free time caring for her children. Chi was also attending Community College to complete her bachelor’s degree. Chi struggled to find housing and jobs. The rising costs of living meant that they had to move house after house. Despite the challenges, she gradually rose in her job ranks, moving from cashier to dressmaker to registered public nurse. After years of hard working, she was able to rise through the ranks. She is very religious and believes that Catholicism has helped her to stay focused on her family’s future. She regularly attends Mass, Confession and enrols her children in Catholic schools. She was influenced heavily by Catholicism by her parents, and was made to conform to strict Catholicism by her parents. Chi was clearly influenced by religion, which is evident today. Chi is positive and determined woman who overcame many obstacles to become where she is today. It’s easy to see how my life differs from Chi Nguyen’s. Chi telling me all about his struggles to find work and growing up in poverty made me more grateful and acknowledged my blessings of living a simpler life. My life was a normal one. I grew up as the second child in a middle-class, lower Berkeley household. I didn’t have to worry about finding food for the night nor where I would live. I was blessed with a good education, and technology and media became my main means of socializing. My life was easy and peaceful. We have one thing in common. Our only commonality is our shared Catholic Vietnamese heritage. Chi didn’t have me conform to Catholicism. Chi and my life are vastly different.
Technology is one of the things that distinguishes us. Technology was a major means of communication growing up. The concept of face-to-face discussion was lost in the age of texting, emails, and phone calls. Due to the ease of communicating with friends and making new contacts, I found it difficult to form face to face connections. As a millennial, I didn’t know my neighbors growing up. The advent of social media and messaging made it easier to avoid socializing with neighbors. I also lost interest in the socializing opportunities that Chi used to host, such as potlucks and gatherings. Social environment is another difference. Chi was raised in California’s poorest area, where whites and minorities lived in separate areas. This is why she saw a lot of Asian Americans and Christians. She didn’t realize the diversity of religions and cultures. This made her ignorant of other cultures and norms. She said that she was forced to accept Catholicism as her only religion. This is very different from what I see. I was raised in a diverse environment.
I would see people in different ways than me when I looked around. Through my openness to all cultures, I was able to accept and relate to others. I didn’t have to follow the Catholic faith like Chi. Instead, I had much more freedom thanks to the many religions and cultures that exist. To hear Chi Nguyen from his perspective, and see my life through sociological imagination allows me to see the social factors that influence our lives.
