SOC 302 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: The Sociological Imagination, Thomas Theorem, Reproductive Rights
Document Summary
Individuals can only understand themselves fully if they locate themselves within their period. The sociological imagination- a way of thinking that enables us to group history and biography and the relationship between the two in society. Reciprocal relationship- we are shaped by society and history; our actions shape history and society. Troubles: private matters in which values cherished by the individual are threatened. Deals with the self and the limited areas of social life that the individual is directly and personally aware of. Issues: public matters in which values cherished by the public are threatened. Transcends the local environments of the individual and involve large scale societal institutions. They require different solutions (trouble of unemployment> stop being lazy. Institutions- a set of rules or shared norms within a group. We can compare our biographies with our parents" or other americans" to see what caused us to be where we are. Crisis- values are threatened (trouble or issue)
