Syed Noman Zia

02-112182-056
Introduction to Sociology
Assignment No. 1

Question#1
The sociological imagination is that the practice of having the ability to “think
ourselves away” from the familiar routines of our daily lives to seem at them with
fresh, critical eyes. C. Wright Mills defined the sociological imagination as “the vivid
awareness of the connection between experience and therefore the wider society." The
sociological imagination is that the ability to ascertain things socially and the way they
interact and influence one another. to possess a sociological imagination, an
individual must be ready to shy away from things and think from an alternate point of
view. This ability is central to one's development of a sociological perspective on the
planet.

As soon as you begin to believe various issues or activities in perspectives that differ

from your own, you're entering the realm of the sociological imagination. Other
everyday behaviors which will be viewed using the sociological imagination technique
include exercising, watching TV or owning a pet. For Example:

People who meet “to have coffee” together are probably more curious about meeting
and chatting than in what they drink. altogether societies, eating and drinking are
occasions for social interaction and therefore the performance of rituals, which
supply an excellent deal of material for sociological study.
The second dimension to a cup of coffee has got to do with its use as a drug. Coffee
contains caffeine, which may be a drug that has stimulating effects on the brain. For
many, this is often why they drink coffee.

Another aspect to the sociological imagination on which Wrights Mill laid the

foremost emphasis was our possibilities for the longer term. Sociology not only helps
us to research current and existing patterns of social life, but it also helps us to
ascertain a number of the possible futures hospitable us. Through the sociological
imagination, we will see not only what's real, but also what could become real should
we desire to form it that way.

Wright Mills, the sociological imagination involves the power to acknowledge that

non-public troubles are rooted publicly issues and structural problems. Functionalism
(Functionalism is that the doctrine that what makes something an idea, desire, pain
not on its internal constitution) emphasizes the importance of social institutions for
social stability and implies that social change is going to be socially harmful. The
sociological creativeness allows its possessor to apprehend the larger ancient scene in
phrases of its which suggests for the interior existence and therefore the outside
profession of a spread of people. Mills believed withinside the energy of the
sociological creativeness to attach “non-public problems to public issues.”
Question# 2
The Sociological angle allows us to look society as a transient social product, created
via way of means of humans and able to being modified via way of means of them as
well. The sociological perspective invites us to look at our familiar surroundings in a
fresh way. It encourages us to take a new look at the world we have always taken for
granted, to examine our social environment with the same curiosity that we might
bring to an exotic foreign culture.

Three theoretical perspectives guide sociological thinking on social problems:

• Functionalist theory
• Conflict theory
• Symbolic interactionist theory

We criticize the Conflict theory perspective because it affirms the negative and
conflicted state of society as normal behavior. This theory challenges the status quo
and firmly believes that the elite class is responsible for enforcing social order on those
who are destitute. Furthermore, it discounts all acts of kindness as having an ulterior
motive or personal agenda. Humanitarian efforts, acts of altruism, democracy and the
civil rights movement, according to the conflict theory, were designed to control the
masses rather than to promote peace and social order. Moreover, it is suggested via
the conflict theory that the division between social classes is ultimately a power
struggle, a competitive force in which one group seeks domination and control over
the weaker group. The gap is not required to be so wide as it is not necessarily an issue
between capitalism and working class. Also, if conflict is a natural segment of
humanity, then topics on conflict resolution or peace integration are obsolete and void
of meaning. With that consideration, conflict theory is only applicable in situations of
war, famine and political strive. Not in situations of peace and social equality.