According to C. Wright Mills chapter of the promise, he explains sociological imagination is the ability to differentiate the connection of the actions of individuals and large social forces. This means, having the capability to see connections that are between historical change and individual biographies with the capability to spot how social causations function in different cultures. Mills invented the word sociological imagination to describe the type of knowledge offered by the regulation of sociology. Since then, the term has been used in sociology to define it and the relevance it has on everyday people’s lives.
Lacking sociological imagination has many consequences on one’s life. This is because the most productive way that sociological imagination works is through “the personal troubles of milieu” and “the public issues of social structure” (Mills 1). Consequences arise when individuals ignore their social surroundings. Unemployment for instance can have an effect socially when an individual losses interest in looking for a job. In some cases, this may lead to the collapse of the structure of opportunities. Marriages are affected by a lack of sociological imagination because when a man and a woman have personal troubles in the institution, they consider having a divorce. It can lead to war and if it takes place individuals who do not have survival, skills or those who want to die as heroes are the main causes of their problems.
The global challenge the United States is facing today is it does not know the catastrophic changes that occur in men and women because of the historic facts and cultures that are quickly becoming history. Their main challenge is that they do not have a history of their own and they have to rely on global history. At the rate at which the Americans are going today, there will be no history to look at shortly. With this taking place, the United States cannot see connections that are between historical change and individual biographies. They also cannot spot on how social causations should function in the different cultures of their country. This also means that the United States does not have values of their own thus; they do not have values to cherish. Americans today have difficulty in understanding the meaning of different ages of their life.
Anthropology is defined as the social science that studies the origins and social relationships of human beings. Kottack (1) says “the human society is constantly being destabilized and re-formed through engagements with diverse flows of populations, commerce, mass culture, technology, and politics”. This class puts the American picture in the spotlight as a nation of immigrants and not a country that stands alone. America is also considered a land that is under siege than an open global system. Key anthropological notions of ethnicity, class, kinship, race, gender, and class are explored in the United States communities as ways of contemporary problems of living in diversity. A focus on the lively and global procedures of identity-making suggest constant revisions in what it means to be American and human today. Focusing on Americans culture is the basis of the society that they live in (Kottack 1).
Culture is “the total way of life of a people, the social legacy the individual acquires from his group, a way of thinking, feeling, and believing” (Geertz 1). He also explains it further saying, “it is an abstraction from behavior, a theory on the part of the anthropologist about the way in which a group of people in fact behave and a storehouse of pooled learning” (Geertz 1). Another definition for culture is, “a set of standardized orientations to recurrent problems learned behavior, a mechanism for the normative regulation of behavior, a set of techniques for adjusting both to the external environment and to other men in participating history (Geertz 1). On the other hand, culture is defined as the comparative study of society and human diversity (Kottack 1). His definition has its basis on the various ways that a person’ lives are shaped by social relations, political economy, history and cultural images. He further explains history that the former anthropologists have taken in studies of various societies and cultures. Kottack also says that culture is symbolic. Humans have the ability use symbols as the root of their culture. Other humans have shown the ability to use symbols in defining their different cultures. They do this in communicating, storing and processing in their culture. People also have the ability to use their cultures in creative ways. Real culture refers to an actual behavior of as observed by an anthropologist. For culture to have full effect, one has to adapt to the ways that the culture has to work.
Geertz definition of culture is more useful in this text. In his explanation, he states that the total way of living is what defines culture. The way people think feel and believe makes culture have a meaning in their lives. Behavior also has an effect on people’s life and the way they do things. Some behaviors the humans have are caused because of the cultural beliefs that they believe in. all cultures have different approaches to the way they handle life. He further explains that cultures are what shape people thus it should not be ignored because it is the backbone of every society. In his first explanation of culture, he says that it is the total way of people’s life and by this he means when thinking of culture; you should bear in mind that patterns of life form the culture. The acceptance of anthropology has effect on societies and cultures. When it comes to understanding cultural behavior, one has to be aware of what his culture restricts. One has to understand what his culture holds for him so that he/ she may live a life that has satisfaction. Because of the cultural values that take place, is important to understand the theoretical work that the founders of anthropological thought that are used in the fields of cultural anthropology. Geertz says that culture holds a public meaning.
In conclusion, it is vital to have a sociological imagination so as not to experience the negative consequences that is brought due to lack of it. The United States are considered a nation with no culture because they lack sociological imagination thus they experience no distinct source of history. Geertz and Kottack differ in their explanations of culture but they both conclude that cultures are what shape people. They also agree that cultures have an effect on peoples’ behavior generally.
Works cited
Geertz, Clifford. Thick Description. 1973. Web.
Kottak, Conrad. What is Anthropology? 2008. Web.
Mills, Wright. Sociological imagination. 1959. Web.