My sociological imagination

My sociological imagination Before going through this weeks reading and into todays lecture, I hadnt yet come across the concept of the sociological imagination. Although the concept is seemingly new to me, it is likely that I have been using my sociological imagination for several years now especially whilst studying Society and Culture for my Higher School Certificate in years 11 and 12 at high school. In the subject, I can recall doing numerous case studies such as looking at the red light district in Calcutta, India as well as research assignments on topics like the stolen generation and my major work, the personal interest project on the stems of homophobic attitudes. To complete this work to the best of my potential, I was definitely thinking with my sociological imagination. I would define the sociological imagination as the art of objectifying a situation so that you are able form a view that captures it as a whole. It is thus a holistic way of thinking and ability of incorporating all elements as well as backgrounds and contexts into what you may be researching. The sociological imagination is an important frame of mind for a sociologist or anthropologist to be able to effectively assess a situation. C.W. Mills expresses this holistic idea of shaping the complete picture throughout this weeks reading, The Promise. While the text was written in 1959, his views and ideas of sociological imaginative practice are still very much relevant in 21st Century context of analysing social and cultural situations. The social sciences now commonly use this idea to explore such issues as social structures (e.g. Indias social class system), welfare problems (e.g. domestic violence) or health concerns (e.g. drug and alcohol addiction and abuse). An interesting statement Mills makes about the sociological imagination featured on page 15 is The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. Here he is stating that we are not able to understand or formulate solutions for the biography of certain situations without take into consideration history, be that of a place, a person, a theory or even anything you wish to analyse. We must look at what has been in order to comprehend what is. Take for example a 45 year old female suffering from heart disease, it seems their life is quite active and their diet is balanced but why are they in need of a bypass operation to clear a blockage in an artery? Well one of the first question doctors would ask is if there is a history of heart disease in the family. Doctors here use their sociological imagination to understand the patients condition and it seems genetics and the historical background of her family is what is contr ibuting to her life now. Also on page 15 of The Promise, Mills puts forward a further thought about the sociological imagination: For that imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another from political to the psychological. Mills here is examining framing perspectives and the sociological imagination giving you the ability of seeing things from differing perspectives. Putting yourself in another persons frame of mind or in their circumstances makes a situation much easier to comprehend. We can see something from a feminist perspective, a Marxist perspective, a scientific perspective, a postmodernist perspective or even seeing things from a childs perspective, the list is endless. A jury takes a number of people from many different social, cultural and historical backgrounds in order for them to find a defendant guilty or not guilty. The idea is that all of these perspectives collaborate to form the correct verdict to determine the fate of a defendant. Mills consolidates why we must make use of our sociological imagination on page 17 by stating Accordingly, to understand the changes of many personal milieux we are required to look beyond them. He raises the idea here that you must look beyond ones milieux, environment and surroundings to be able to comprehend and analyse their identity thoroughly. In the Up Series video excerpt shown in todays lecture consolidated that Mills theory about looking past a persons environment is extremely valid. Based in Britain during the 1960s we saw fourteen children from varied socioeconomic backgrounds come together to determine whether or their social class will play a role in preordaining their future. It became particularly clear of their economic circumstances when the children were asked what theyd like to be when they grow up. One boy from an upper class background replies with I want to go to Oxford University whilst a boy from the lower class asks what is a university? Looking beyond these childrens backgrounds and paths that may or may not be planned by the childrens parents, it became clear that these children do hold many of the same characteristics regardless of social status. For instance, they all were able to successfully interact at a party together as well as being capable of playing with each other at an adventure playground. Children were essentially being children. By thinking with the sociological imagination I am able to discover the full scope of a situation and formulate a thorough holistic opinion. As I am studying a Bachelor of Social Work at UNSW, it will be important if not fundamental technique for me to make use of whilst completing my degree looking at case studies, writing assignments as well as when on work placement and most importantly in my future career as a social worker.

Consequences of Postmodernism in the Movie

How the movie â€Å"American Psycho† relates to the post modern society of America in the 80†² IIS Postmodernism was first seen in the late nineteenth century, but after the second world war it was applied to people's everyday life. â€Å"American Psycho† portraits the reality and consequences of postmodernism through the mysterious life of Patrick Bateman as the â€Å"American Psycho†. Patrick Bateman is the main character of the movie, and the whole world is seen through his eyes. The moral in the movie is that there are no morals, it is one big twisted game fighting for status.Patriot's life comes focused on this goal through worshipping the surface through capitalistic, consumerist and narcissistic behavior. The â€Å"Business card† scene definitely displays that Patrick Bateman perceives the world as post modernistic. Nothing has meaning to it in Patriot's mind, as ideologies, goodness and love. What Bateman can relate to are the materialistic as pects for example the business cards where it meaner everything to him to have the best card which is only an illusion of himself.Bateman and the phenomenon, postmodernism are the idea that nothing is real Just an illusion and that everything is a copy of something that's already been duplicated. This movie has many different ways to look at it. Many have seen this movie and thought whether this is all real or if it's Just his crazy twisted mind, making it all up. One thing we can agree on is the fact that Patrick Bateman is a mentally disturbed person. Maybe all this violence and blood displayed in this movie, are the feelings of the author towards the post modernistic society that we have and do live in, this is him showing his hatred towards it.This is why it is irrelevant whether it is real or not, t is this feeling the author has towards this twisted society that you must understand and to feel it you must see it in action. When societies redefine, the people also redefine this is the process we see in Batsman's life. He is always thriving to redefine himself both through his physical body and through his materialistic belongings. This thriving for the idealistic image is the meaning of life for Patrick Bateman, all of his actions and thought are focused on redefining himself compared to the redefining society. Survival becomes a key point in this society.Bateman is trying to survive in his sick society. By surviving it meaner to keep up with all the materialistic ideologies of the perfect being. His survival for this we see when he does his regular morning exercise followed by a skin mask to the battle of business cards. One of postmodernists big aspects is the value given to the materialistic aspects of society, everything has lost its soul even people are described almost as if they were products. People are no longer Judged by their true selves but through what clothes they wear, what perfume they use and how much money they own.An example from he mov ie is the big importance of which restaurant to eat at. It is not whether the food is good, it is what image it represents to the surrounding people. Patrick Bateman is trying to sell himself all the time. He does this Just like you would advertise a bottle of coca-cola. He wants the surrounding people to associate him with the best restaurant, business card and even the look of his girlfriend. This is exactly how coca-cola tries to sell us this idea of happiness and fairytale world when you open a bottle of coca-cola, this they do through advertisements as we see it with Bateman, who becomes a product.Creating this image of yourself is pure postmodernism. The movie shows this to us in such a clear way though Patrick Bateman description of himself. â€Å"‘ have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. † and â€Å"there is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of ab straction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable†¦I simply am not there†. To understand this you must understand that the soul is your true being. Through postmodernism the soul dies due to always having to manipulate and create this illusory image of one self, but by doing this the soul is getting buried so deep beneath this image, that it is almost non-existing. The whole point of a post modernistic life is trying to create this perfect picture of yourself, instead of finding your true self by removing all mindsets and ideologies given to you by this manipulative society trying to give you ideologies, norms and rules that bury our soul.This movie is showing postmodernism at its finest. All values, ideologies and norms have vanished and now they are meaningless. In the end the only thing you can really reflect on is one self. Bateman is wandering around a materialistic â€Å"yuppie society†, where people are so concerned and busy with their outer, status and themselves, that they don't see how gruesome and crazy Bateman really is. All the violence in itself is not that important for the meaning of the movie. What really is trying to be shown in this movie is this outrage towards the post modernistic society and how it can affect you.

Elizabeth looked Essay

Discuss the significance of this statement within the play and the wider political and historical contexts. The play, ‘The Crucible’, portrays a community which is based on paranoid accusations of witchcraft ending in mass hysteria. The accusations led to dozens of alleged witches being prosecuted in the Massachusetts colony; resulting in the death of nineteen people being hung and one pressed to death, over the following two years. Set in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts during 1692, it depicts one man, John Proctor, in his struggle to keep his pride and name from being destroyed with lies, deceit and accusations of consorting with Satan. In 1915 Arthur Miller was born in New York City where he grew up. When he was older, in 1934, he paid for himself to enroll at the University of Michigan and graduated in 1938. Then during 1953 he published ‘The Crucible’ but was then later criticized for being an Anti-American. Arthur Miller was intrigued by the witch trials of the 17th Century Salem, but he was also concerned with United States political events; parts of which were opposing the spread of communism. The McCarthyism era, in 1938, was created and led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, it was on the basis that communism was spreading and would undermine and destroy capitalism. McCarthy gave across the point that communism was to be feared and that it was a threat to America. Slowly Americans seemed to grasp his paranoid ideas and began to eradicate communism from the country. John Proctor’s statement, â€Å"I have given you my soul; leave me my name! † is significant within the play and also outside of it. Proctor was a village person, who lived in a small, friendly community where everybody knows each another and so a name would mean a lot about that person living in that community. For that reason Proctor wishes to keep his name as it is because he believes that it is the only thing he has left to hold onto. Yet outside of the play labels are formed for specific groups such as communists and capitalists. A name has been a strong idea throughout history where Kings are recognised by their names and everyone is given a name at birth. One of the main characters in Arthur Millers play is John Proctor. He was known in Salem as having a high moral status and being a respectable, honest and hard working farmer. John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth Proctor had 3 children; John tended to the farm while Elizabeth looked after the house and children. He had a strong belief that he should stick to what he believes by holding his head high against accusations and immoral justifications. He stands up for himself when he is told to sign the confession papers to be nailed onto the church door and does not let people over come him. â€Å"You will not use me! I am no Sarah Good or Tituba, I am John Proctor! You will not use me! It is no part of salvation that you should use me! † John Proctor is a character who, since the start, denounced the whole proceedings of the Witch Trials unjust and that the afflicted girls were liars. This builds up a life changing dilemma where he is accused of witchcraft and eventually will be hung unless he confesses to working with the devil. One of the choices he could take was to lie; he was to sign his name to a document confirming he performed witchery while in association with Lucifer. This outcome would result in him letting down this wife, children, his friends and even the people who have already been hung for witchery. Although ultimately he would be letting himself down and losing his pride and honour. The other choice he could take was death. Proctor ultimately chooses death as he wanted to hold onto, what was left of, his pride, honour and reputation. During this execution he pleaded for a little respite of time while claiming he was not fit to die. His plea was, of course, unsuccessful. Another main character is Abigail Williams; she is revealed to show her true malicious self as the play progresses.

Political Discourse And Political Politics - 1359 Words

ater’s election. A fundamental truth in American politics, as already stated, is that there will always be some level of partisan resistance within our essentially two party system. In 1964, partisan politics were starting to replace debates over issues as the main political discourse and A Time for Choosing takes full advantage of those sentiments. At the beginning of his speech, Reagan mentions his past as a liberal democrat. According to his own auto-biography, An American Life, Reagan aligned with the left until his relationship with conservative actress, Nancy Davis. During the duration of their relationship, Reagan had abandoned support for the democratic candidates in 1952 and 1956 in favor of the republican alternatives. He eventually registered as a GOP with the famous quip, â€Å"I didn’t leave the democratic party, the party left me.† He asserts this stance again in his speech for Goldwater. Towards the beginning of the speech, Reagan asserts that he had spent, â€Å"most of his life a democrat,† and continues with the claim he â€Å"recently† had â€Å"changed his course†. This line is brilliant at the beginning of a speech because it establishes ethos for Reagan immediately with moderates and rank and file democrats. He gets around the automatic resistance to â€Å"across the aisle† ideas by claiming he used to have the same viewpoints as some democrats before he switched parties. This causes those democratic audience members to view his argument less from an oppositional standpointShow MoreRelatedHow Discourse Is Used For Power And Knowledge, And For Resistance And Critique1203 Words   |  5 PagesDiscourse is a broad term with various definitions which â€Å"integrates a whole palette of meanings† (Titscher et al., 2000, p.42), covering a large area from linguistics, through sociology, philosophy and other disciplines. 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