Harsita Agrawal: Sociology I answer copy

Sociology as daughter of IR

1. Forces behind IR -

i) Enlightenment promoted values of rationality, scientific temper, progress.

ii) Rise of spirit of individualism, entrepreneurship and profit-making.

iii) Advancement in technology such as textiles, ship building, steam engine.

iv) Growth of institutions like banking, insurance, etc.

1. Impact of IR -

i) Shift from home-based to factory-based production.

ii) Migration to urban areas - breakdown of joint families.

iii) Poor working conditions, low wages, spread of death and diseases.

iv) Emergence of modern cities as repositories of misery and inhumanity.

1. Emergence of sociology -

i) Sociology emerged to study the problems brought about by IR.

ii) Auguste Comte, Durkheim believed that modern society was positive, consensual, and based on solidarity.

iii) Marx highlighted the conflict in IR.

Thus, Sociology developed as a response to IR, and is thus called the 'daughter of Industrial Revolution'.

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The 'Sociological imagination' of CW Mills provided a novel perspective on sociology of knowledge, bridging the gap between sociology and history.

Sociological Imagination - conceptualisation

1. Sociology as a discipline does not involve a mere process of acquiring knowledge according to CW Mills. He believes that society is not external or independent of an individual, and thus studying society cannot involve mere application of scientific methods for gaining knowledge.

2. Link between 'sociology' and 'history' - He argued that sociology can be studied using sociological imagination, which requires a sense of biography and a sense of history. Thus he emphasized on an inter-subjective approach towards sociology.

3. Sense of biography - Mills believes that individual problems and issues gives an individualistic perspective of social problems, ignoring to larger social structure.

4. Sense of history is thus required to relate individual to the society. He believes that sociological imagination requires the essential linking of 'individual problems of the milieu' and 'larger issues of the social world'.

Example - 'homelessness' can be seen as a larger social issue, which an individual may perceive as a 'lack of shelter'.

1. Benefits of sociological imagination

i) It allows an individual to locate himself in the larger social structure.

ii) It allows individual to study his society in the larger context of history.

iii) It enables the conceptualisation of 'self' from society and history.

iv) It, thus, links personal biography with processes of history.

1. Reflexive approach for the study of society was suggested by him, rejecting to the tautological and teleological approach of functionalists like Parsons.

Criticism of Mills

1. Mills' sociological imagination is criticized for being vague, and not suggesting any methodology to develop this imagination.

2. Subjectivity of researcher and biases in research may impact objectivity, validity of the discipline.