Question

What did c. Wright mills mean when he used the word "biography" as applied to sociology?

Answer 1

C. Wright Mills defines “sociological imagination” as the intersection of history and biography. Sociological imagination refers to the awareness of how our personal experiences relate to the experiences of society at large. It is a process in which the person steps away from their own person and looks at his life not as a series of daily events that are happening to him, but as a product of a particular time period and cultural tradition.

In this concept, history refers to all the events of the past that have led to the development of this particular culture and society.

Biography is used to parallel this concept, a sort of “personal history.” It highlights the fact that individual lives are a consequence of particular events but also of events in society at large, an important concept in sociology.