Chapter 1 The Sociological Imagination

1. Chapter 1The Sociological Imagination Key Terms

2. troublesPersonal needs, problems and difficulties that can be explained in terms of individual shortcomings related to motivation, attitude, ability, character or judgments. • issues A matter than can be explained only by factors outside an individual’s control and immediate environment.

3. institutionA relatively stable and predictable arrangement among people that has emerged over time with the purpose of coordinating human interaction and behavior in ways that meet some social need. • sociological ImaginationAbility to connect seemingly impersonal and remote historical forces to the most basic incidents of an individual’s life.

4. conflictMajor force that drives social change. • means of production The resources essential to the production and distribution of goods and services.

5. bourgeoisieOwners of the means of production. • proletariatIndividuals who must sell their labor to the bourgeoisie.

6. solidarity Ties that bind people to one another in a society. • mechanical solidaritySocial order and cohesion based on a common conscience or uniform thinking and behavior.

7. organic solidaritySocial order based on interdependence and cooperation among people performing a wide range of diverse and special tasks. • rationalizationProcess whereby thought and action motivated by emotion, superstition, respect of mysterious forces and tradition are replaced by thought and action grounded in the logical assessment of the most efficient ways to achieve a valued goal.

8. value-rational actionThought and action grounded in the logical assessment of the most efficient ways to achieve a valued goal or end. • double consciousnessAccording to Dubois, the “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.”

9. society Large complex of human relationships, a system of interaction. • social interactionEveryday events in which people communicate and respond to affect one another’s behavior and thinking. In the process, the parties involved define, interpret, and attach meaning to the encounter.

10. socialA quality of interaction that involves the ways of seeing, thinking, acting and responding to others. • social factsIdeas, feelings and ways of behavior that exist outside the consciousness of the individual.

11. Globalization-from- aboveConnects people from around the world with educational, economic and political advantages, excluding or pushing to the side-lines those who are not so advantaged. • Globalization-from-belowInvolves interdependence at the grassroots level that aims to protect, restore, and nurture the environment and to enhance ordinary people’s access to the basic resources they need to live a dignified existence.