Sociological Imagination - Essay Example

Sociological Imagination Sociological imagination involves thinking beyond your current situation. It is an aspect of sociology that takes your imagination to another level. You allow yourself to view situations from above them, like watching yourself from another person’s point of view. Sociological imagination makes one think beyond themselves by analyzing their personal situations and problems as public ones and those affecting the society as a whole. One can examine a current personal problem by fitting themselves in a different society or time in history. By so doing, they get the perspective that the same problem applied to the different situation or was treated differently. One of the best examples to look at is the current lack of social ties. One can view this problem from a traditional aspect. You can fit yourself in your society but some centuries back. These ancient times have characteristics of high social and communal bonds. Bringing this analysis to the modern world, one can get to see the overall breakdown in society, settling the thought that only they are in a socially degraded society. This aspect is a key social comfort and educator. With respect to this view, one gets to understand that social imagination involves answering sociological questions through a wild, imaginative application. They think themselves away from the typical situation at hand to get to understand it better from a broad point of view. To understand the outcomes of what we do based on our social understanding, we look sociological imagination and get to understand its implications. According to Conley (2011), there is an understanding of the sociological imagination that prompts students to ask themselves meaningful sociological questions. This sociological inquiry and the resulting knowledge creates a comprehensible layout of the meaning of social inequalities. These inequalities are in terms of race, class and gender. Racial inequality is a widespread social weakness in the world. It involves discrimination of people according to their race. The sad thing about race is that no one chooses the one they take. It is one of the unavoidable accidents of birth (Conley, 2011). Looking deeply into racism, one cannot credit themselves with the race with which they identify. As such, one can ask themselves how life could be different had they born of a different race. The people they related to would all be different in a world full of racism. This realization means that they would have to be part of the social circle of that other type of race. The effect of racism comes out in the presentation and eventual acquisition of employment opportunities by the superior race. Andersen (2012) shows that the different races in America have different chances of getting jobs. Even after the end of slavery and oppression for the African Americans, they still get unfair treatment in the economic sector. Most of the white collar jobs and top ranks in great companies belong to the White Americans. This inequality leads one to question themselves on the kind of employment they would be in if they were born of a different race. The African Americans would be in better employment had they been born white. Similarly, the Whites would have to struggle to get to the employment levels they desired had they been born black. Devah Page in Conley (2011) observes that there is extreme racial discrimination in the employment sector. This effect is global, such that were you of a different race other than the dominant one in whichever part of the world you were situated, you would receive unfair employment opportunities. The sociological imagination, when critically applied in this context, would help reasonable potential employers reduce the discrimination levels in their companies. By viewing themselves as being part of the race they were discriminating against, they would understand the oppression they were fuelling. Racial discrimination is also seen in the limited access to social amenities that the inferior race gets (Andersen, 2012). The superior race is usually treated with high regard in a mixed-race society. It is not clear on who to blame for one’s race, and one might be led to think that they are inferior just because of their race. The lack of access to basic social amenities makes one think of the services they would receive had they been members of the superior race. The social facilities involved are mostly schools, parks, and hospitals. Access to the best schools is limited to the superior race. Children from this apparent superior race grow knowing that they deserve the best treatment as compared to other races. This notion divides the society on matters skin color. A bigger debate is seen in the decision on which race to associate with in the case of children born in inter-racial marriages (Conley, 2011). By selecting one race, one can analyze how people from it are treated in society. They can settle on either or only call it a mix of the two. Discrimination on the grounds of social class is seen in many countries all over the world. This inequality is due to the wide gap between the rich and the poor in terms of wealth and a stable income. The small percentage of the wealthy people in the world owns almost 90% of its money. The biggest population comprising of the poor owns the remaining 10% of the world’s wealth in total. This gap widens more in terms of the discriminatory issues that arise between people of different classes. Andersen (2012) cited the advantages of being in a wealthy social class. These benefits include the fact that wealth in one class remains in it for generations as it is passed down. There is very little chance that it will be shared with a lower social class. Another advantage is the way the wealthy live in proper conditions and get the best of services in the society. This situation is as opposed to the lives of the poor classes of people. Moreover, the wealthy are powerful people and can always influence laws and policies in their favor. These people tend to remain in their positions of power and supremacy for long, passing the baton to their kin. A similar situation can be seen in the ancient monarchs through the sociological imagination. They were wealthy families, with much political influence. They ruled over poor people and all the wealth in their kingdoms either belonged to them or was attributed to them. As such, the poor never got rich. In the current society, life would have been different for an unfortunate individual had they been born in a wealthy family or one with political power. They too would have been rich, or even become rulers at some point in their lives. Victor Rios in Conley (2011) carries out a study on class inequality. He observes that inner-city boys are usually criminalized, regardless of whether they commit and crimes or not. The fact that they come from the poor and densely populated central parts of the city makes them police targets. They also fail to receive appropriate social services. Most schools do not admit them for the fear that they will introduce criminal activities among other students. They are also not allowed access to social community centers. This discrimination drives them towards their illegal activities and can cause them much psychological harm. Looking at the inner-city boys from a rich boy’s point of view, they would be enjoying life in the best and modern homes of their time had they been born rich. They would also be enjoying the best of social facilities, including schools and hospitals. Police would respect them, and some would even be hired to protect them. The fact that they get the worst treatment for being born as inner-city boys are unfair because they could not choose their parents. Their social classes cannot be directly blamed on them. They are a result of the evolution of the society over many centuries, probably even before their original ancestors moved to their present residential areas. Inequality on the basis of class is also seen in Africa and other developing countries. The biggest portion of it lies in corruption, whereby the rich are corrupt and get everything to work their way. They also steal, directly or indirectly, from the poor. A case of this is in the use of tax-payers’ money for their financial benefits. This factor is outlined in the failed projects under government institutions. There are usually significant plans set to achieve economic development. Some are heavily funded but end up forgotten because their accounts are often fed on by the powerful few. This underdevelopment is a major source of poverty and unemployment in Africa. It widens the gap between the few rich people and the vast population of the poor people, some of who can afford only one meal a day or less. Andersen (2012) notes that improper leadership schemes are a cause of class inequality in developing countries. The rich get richer than they were before. A lot of politics takes part in these countries, and all it does is split power among people of the same level of greed. Poor government policies that are formulated by the same bad leaders promote more poverty, and the lack of a proper administration system ensures that bad leadership is not put in check, worsening the situation per day. The different regimes that take over leadership in this developing countries have personal priorities and interests. Leadership in this countries is seen as a gateway for earning and accumulating wealth, mostly at the oppression of others. Looking into the sociological imagination of class inequality as seen in developing countries, one might take it to themselves to analyze their political ambitions and purpose had they been born in place of their current leaders. The notion that each leader has some corruption engraved in them would also be another aspect to look at. Would they be as corrupt as their current leader? Looking into the past, African leaders were virtuous men. They were wealthy but respected too because of their great endeavors in wars. They also protected their people and interacted with them on the same level, reducing the social class gaps in the community. The fact that one cannot choose the gender with which they are born raises concerns on why gender inequality has prevailed for so many centuries. In many societies, boys are given preference to girls. They are favored in terms of growth, education, employment and social and political positions. Conley (2011) notes that the social level that one gender is put in compared to the opposite sex varies from society to the corporation. Changing one’s gender was next to impossible, until the recent past when sex change medical research became a success. However, this change involves a lot of surgery and medication and is not entirely accepted by society. It also does not give the full representation of the other gender. Multiple cases of gender inequality have led to different views in regards to this issue. However, to understand it better, one needs to put themselves in the shoes of the opposite sex. How one would live life if they were born of with the opposite gender is something people need to evaluate in understanding the negative aspect of sex inequality. Some societies mistreat people of the opposite gender while others even dispose of children born with the sex that is deemed inferior. The modern day world, however, has made major steps towards improving equality between genders, especially in political, academic and policy grounds. Some states have passed and implemented laws against this kind of inequality. However, since this trend of inequality might take quite some time to be resolved into a society of equals, one need not hate themselves for being the way they were born. Through sociological imagination, they can view how the social inequality issue affecting them has existed in the past and how others managed to live through it. Works cited Andersen, Margaret L. Understanding Society: An Introductory Reader. 4th ed. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2011. Read More