In a fascinating paper from 2008, Michael Burawoy wrote an Open Letter to C. Wright Mills. You can read it online here but I wanted to share this insightful passage which stood out to me: But recognizing the link between… Read More ›
C. Wright Mills 
In March 2012 it will be the 50th anniversary of the death of C Wright Mills. In this special series, Sociological Imagination will be considering the life, legacy and ideas of this unique man and what they mean for Sociology in an age of austerity.
Ayn Rand on Love and Happiness
As much as I dislike the ideas of Ayn Rand, I think this animation is marvellous. I’d love to see something along these lines exploring the ideas of C. Wright Mills:
The sociological imagination of Ava DuVernay
The latest issue of the BFI’s Sight & Sound has an illuminating interview with Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, in which she describes her sensibility and approach to directing. The film itself resists a tendency towards hagiography, instead focusing upon Martin… Read More ›
The Promise of Sociology in 2015
Earlier this month, I spoke to Nicholas Gane (Warwick) and Les Back (Goldsmiths) about an article they published in Theory, Culture & Society. It was called C. Wright Mills 50 Years On: The Promise and Craft of Sociology Revisited and, as you can… Read More ›
Sociology’s Promise and the Sociological Imagination
The concept of Sociological Imagination entered circulation in the 1959 book of the same name by the American Sociologist C. Wright Mills. It moves from a prophetic opening (‘Nowadays men often feel that their private lives are a series of… Read More ›
Rediscovered: C. Wright Mills’ 1951 book “White Collar – The American Middle Classes”
by Hannes Antonschmidt* If he could look into the faces of work commuters on public trains of Western cities today, C. Wright Mills would be quickly convinced of the continuing relevance of his 1951 book, “White Collar – The American… Read More ›
Public Sociology and Sociological Writing
One of my favourite passages by C Wright Mills concerns the tendency of academics to “slip so readily into unintelligibility”. An “elaborate vocabulary” and “involved manner of speaking and writing” become props for a professional self-image which defines itself, in… Read More ›
Emma Uprichard on the challenge of Big Data
Anything that helps us to see the world a bit differently […] can potentially help to nurture a healthy ‘sociological imagination’. But the frame will remain on the relative present – the ‘plastic present’ to use a phrase I’ve used… Read More ›
The Sociological Imagination Today: The Need for Biology
C.W. Mills’ (1959) call for a ‘Sociological Imagination’, the suggestion that social, historical and biographical dimensions be considered as integral in the analysis of social life, is important. By highlighting the interplay between individual and society, between private ‘troubles’ and… Read More ›
The Sociological Imagination Revisited
Let me confess a sin. The opening chapter from C Wright Mills’ The Sociological Imagination was the very first piece of required reading handed to me as an undergraduate. It also holds the distinction of beginning a chain of photocopied chapters and… Read More ›
The (un)intelligibility of academics and being ‘a mere journalist’
In many academic circles today anyone who tries to write in a widely intelligible way is liable to be condemned as a ‘mere literary man’ or, worse still, ‘a mere journalist.’ Perhaps you have already learned that these phrases, as… Read More ›
‘The Public Value of the Social Sciences’ by John Brewer
There has been much discussion about the ongoing marketisation of British academia. One of the best argued and important analyses is John Brewer’s recent book The public value of the social sciences in which he critiques against the deeply flawed redutionism of… Read More ›
Intellectual Craftsmanship As Refusal
Today, we laborers in the groves of academia are pitted against one another in a quest for increased productivity. Academic departments and units compete against one another for increasingly scarce goods, such as the right to hire faculty; individual scholars… Read More ›
The Accidental Sociologist: disciplinarity and academic identity
Originally this column was intended to chart my way through my first formal study of sociology. I’d tripped from one degree to another, with some arty, creative, musical projects in between and ended up in sociology. Apparently, accidentally. When I… Read More ›
Making the familiar strange
In this video, Dalton Conley discusses the C.W.Mills’ idea that a successful sociologist makes the familiar strange.
An early review of the Sociological Imagination
“Imagine a burly cowpuncher on the long, slow ride from the Panhandle of Texas to Columbia University, carrying in his saddle-bag some books which he reads with absorption while his horse trots along. Imagine that among the books are some… Read More ›
Charles Wright Mills documentary
A short documentary on C. Wright Mills life, theories, accomplishments, and impacts on society. Not exactly the slickest film you’re likely to find on the internet but a useful and sympathetic overview of his work.
C. Wright Mills’ Pragmatism
Often when speaking of post-war developments in pragmatism, many people tend to focus on the philosophy of the latter Wittgenstein or Rorty. However, such an exclusive focus tends to eclipse other notable contributions. In Cornel West’s genealogy of pragmatism, C…. Read More ›
“You ask for what one should be keyed up?”
“You ask for what one should be keyed up? My god, for long weekends in the country, and snow and the feel of an idea and New York streets early in the morning and late at night and the camera eye always… Read More ›
The Life and Work of C. Wright Mills
“C. Wright Mills” on Bundlr
The Independent Artist and Intellectual
By permission of the estate of C. W. Mills. Photo by Yaroslava. “The independent artist and intellectual are among the few remaining personalities equipped to resist and to fight the stereotyping and consequent death of genuinely lively things. Fresh perception now… Read More ›
No nation now, but the imagination
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of C. Wright Mills’ death, Sociological Imagination pays a respectful and moving tribute to the man who gave this forum its name through the legacy of his classic 1959 book, The Sociological Imagination, a veritable manifesto for… Read More ›
C. Wright Mills at work
By permission of the estate of C. W. Mills. Photo by Yaroslava.
Would C Wright Mills have kept a blog?
After a particularly inspiring session at the BSA Conference this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of C. Wright Mills’ death, I have started to read The Sociological Imagination again. It was a standard introductory book for sociology students and… Read More ›
One Story High
One Story High is a collection of very short sociological biographies I curated and edited for the on-line journal Fast Capitalism late in 2009, featuring the work of novelist and literary critic Amitava Kumar, anthropologist Katie Stewart and filmmaker John Cohen… Read More ›
Mike O’Donnell on “Charles Wright Mills and the (Continuing) Problem of Radical Agency”
This podcast is a recording of Mike O’Donnell’s talk at the C. Wright Mills session from the BSA conference in April 2012. Mike has written for SI on similar themes in the past: Charles Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination and why we fail to… Read More ›
John Holmwood on “Sociology’s ‘moments’: C. Wright Mills and the critique of professionalism
This podcast is a recording of John Holmwood’s talk at the C. Wright Mills session from the BSA conference in April 2012. The snippet below is from the subsequent q&a session. (main podcast) (snippet)
Les Back on Sociology’s Promise
In this podcast Les Back discusses the enduring significance of C. Wright Mills to sociology. He mentions a (fantastic) book during his talk which we’ve embedded below. Les Back on Sociology’s Promise
What does the Sociological Imagination mean today?
It has been over 50 years since C. Wright Mills wrote the Sociological Imagination. In that time the world has changed beyond recognition: the Cold War ended, the Keynesian consensus broke down, a globalizing neoliberalism rose to the ascendancy and… Read More ›