Wikipedia

C. Wright Mills: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
 
(6 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown)
Line 1:
{{distinguish|Charles W. Mills}}
{{short description|American sociologist (1916–1962)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
Line 13 ⟶ 14:
| awards = <!--notable national level awards only-->
| website =
| education = Dallas Technical High School
{{ubl|[[University of Texas at Austin]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Master of Arts|MA]])|[[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] ([[Ph.D.|PhD]])}}
| thesis_title = A Sociological Account of Pragmatism
Line 91 ⟶ 92:
Mills married his third wife, [[Yaroslava Surmach]], an American artist of Ukrainian descent, and settled in [[Rockland County, New York|Rockland County]], New York, in 1959. Their son, Nikolas Charles, was born on June 19, 1960.{{sfn|C.&nbsp;W. Mills|2000a|p=346}}{{page needed|date=May 2019}}
 
In August 1960, Mills spent time in [[Cuba]], where he worked on developing his text ''Listen, Yankee''. He spent 16 days there, interviewing Cuban government officials and Cuban civilians. Mills asked them questions about whether the [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla organization]] that made the revolution was the same as a political party.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trevino |first=Javier |date=2017 |title=Author Manuscript |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/146283/jhbs21938_am.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y}}</ref> Additionally, Mills interviewed President [[Fidel Castro]], who claimed to have read and studied Mills's ''The Power Elite''.{{sfn|C.&nbsp;W. Mills|2000a|p=312}} Although Mills only spent a short amount of his time in Cuba with Castro, they got along well and Castro sent flowers when Mills passeddied a few years later. Mills was a supporter of the [[Fair Play for Cuba Committee]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schrecker |first1=Ellen |title=The Lost Promise: American Universities in the 1960s |date=2021 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |page=121}}</ref>
 
Mills was described as a man in a hurry. Aside from his hurried nature, he was largely known for his combativeness. Both his private life – four marriages to three women, a child from each, and several affairs – and his professional life, which involved challenging and criticizing many of his professors and coworkers, have been characterized as "tumultuous.” He wrote a fairly obvious, though slightly veiled, essay in which he criticized the former chairman{{who?|date=October 2023}} of the Wisconsin department, and called the senior theorist there, [[Howard P. Becker]], a "real fool.” {{sfn|Ritzer|2011|pp=215–217}}
Line 109 ⟶ 110:
 
C. Wright Mills was strongly influenced by [[pragmatism]], specifically the works of [[George Herbert Mead]], [[John Dewey]], [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], and [[William James]].{{sfn|Oakes|Vidich|1999|p=1}} Although it is commonly recognized that Mills was influenced by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Thorstein Veblen]], the social structure aspects of Mills's works are shaped largely by [[Max Weber]] and the writing of [[Karl Mannheim]], who followed Weber's work closely.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Sociology of C. Wright Mills |url=http://www.faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Mills/SocMills.htm |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=www.faculty.rsu.edu}}</ref> Max Weber's works contributed greatly to Mills's view of the world overall.<ref name=":0" /> Being one of Weber's students, Mills's work focuses a great deal on [[rationalism]].<ref name=":0" /> Mills also acknowledged a general influence of Marxism; he noted that Marxism had become an essential tool for sociologists, and therefore all must naturally be educated on the subject; any Marxist influence was then a result of sufficient education. [[Neo-Freudianism]] also helped shape Mills's work.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Miller|first=John E.|date=November 2018|title=The Continuing Relevance of C. Wright Mills: His Approach to Research and What We Can Learn From It|url=https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=midwesternhistory|journal=Studies in Midwestern History|volume=4|issue=2|pages=1–31}}</ref>
 
=== Influenced by Mills ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=November 2022}}
 
* [[Stanley Cohen (sociologist)|Stanley Cohen]]: was a sociologist and criminologist, Professor of [[Sociology]] at the [[London School of Economics]], known for breaking academic ground on "emotional management", including the mismanagement of emotions in the form of [[sentimentality]], [[overreaction]], and emotional [[denial]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Graham |last2=Coffey |first2=Robert |date=2020-03-20 |title=Stanley Cohen (1922–2020) |journal=Science |volume=367 |issue=6484 |pages=1307 |doi=10.1126/science.abb4095 |pmid=32193312 |bibcode=2020Sci...367.1307C |s2cid=213193943 |issn=0036-8075|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[G. William Domhoff]]: is a [[Distinguished Professor]] Emeritus and [[research professor]] of [[psychology]] and [[sociology]] at the [[University of California, Santa Cruz]], and a founding faculty member of UCSC's [[Cowell College]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Domhoff |first=G. William |editor-first1=G. William |editor-last1=Domhoff |date=2017-09-29 |title=The Power Elite and the State |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781315134086 |doi=10.4324/9781315134086|journal=ECommerce|isbn=9781315134086 }}</ref>
* [[Tom Hayden]]: was an American social and [[Political activism|political activist]], author, and politician.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=CHRISTOL |first=Hélène |date=2009-03-09 |title=Writings for a Democratic Society: the Tom Hayden Reader |journal=E-rea |volume=7 |issue=1 |doi=10.4000/erea.908 |issn=1638-1718|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[Rosabeth Moss Kanter]]: is the Ernest L. Arbuckle professor of business at [[Harvard Business School]]; Her book ''Men and Women of the Corporation'' won the 1977 [[The Society for the Study of Social Problems#Scholarships and Awards|C. Wright Mills Award]] for the year's outstanding book on social issues.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moss Kanter |first=Rosabeth |date=March 1994 |title=Change in the global economy: An interview with Rosabeth Moss Kanter |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0263-2373(94)90041-8 |journal=European Management Journal |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1016/0263-2373(94)90041-8 |issn=0263-2373}}</ref>
* [[Arnold Kaufmann|Arnold Kaufman:]] was a French engineer, professor of Applied Mechanics and Operations Research at the [[Mines ParisTech]] in Paris, at the [[Grenoble Institute of Technology]] and the [[Université catholique de Louvain]], and scientific advisor at [[Groupe Bull|Bull Group]] .<ref>{{Cite journal |date=September 1958 |title=ACCOUNTING AND THE ANAL YSIS OF FINANCIAL DATA. By Edison E. Easton and Byron L. New ton. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1958. 449 pp. $7.00 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/074171365800900133 |journal=Adult Education |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=64 |doi=10.1177/074171365800900133 |s2cid=220441107 |issn=0001-8481}}</ref>
* [[Ralph Miliband]]: was a British [[sociologist]] and has been described as "one of the best known academic [[Marxism|Marxists]] of his generation",<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Irving |first1=Terry |last2=Newman |first2=Michael |date=2004 |title=Ralph Miliband and the Politics of the New Left |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/27515984 |journal=Labour History |issue=86 |pages=215 |doi=10.2307/27515984 |jstor=27515984 |issn=0023-6942}}</ref>
* [[Teodor Shanin]]: was a British sociologist who was for many years Professor of Sociology at the [[Victoria University of Manchester|University of Manchester]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nikulin |first=Alexander |date=2020 |title=Teodor Shanin (29.10.1930 — 04.02.2020) |journal=Sotsiologicheskoe Obozrenie / Russian Sociological Review |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=342–344 |doi=10.17323/1728-192x-2020-1-342-344 |issn=1728-192X|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[William Appleman Williams]]: was one of the 20th century's most prominent [[Historical revisionism|revisionist]] [[historian]]s of [[United States|American]] [[diplomacy]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sáenz Rovner |first=Eduardo |date=January 1996 |title=Paul M. Buhle, Edward Rice-Maximin, William Appleman Williams. ''The Tragedy of Empire''. Nueva York: Routledge, 1995, XV, pp. 318 |journal=Historia Crítica |issue=12 |pages=103–104 |doi=10.7440/histcrit12.1996.12 |issn=0121-1617|doi-access=free }}</ref>
* [[Jock Young]]: was a British [[sociologist]] and an influential [[criminologist|criminologis.t]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Jock |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781446222065 |title=The Exclusive Society: Social Exclusion, Crime and Difference in Late Modernity |date=2007 |publisher=SAGE Publications Ltd |isbn=978-0-8039-8151-5 |location=London, UK|doi=10.4135/9781446222065 }}</ref> Jock holds the titles of Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at [[CUNY Graduate Center|The Graduate Center]] in New York City and Professor of Sociology at the [[University of Kent]] in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Young |first=Jock |title=The criminological imagination |date=2011 |publisher=Polity |isbn=978-0-7456-4106-5 |location=Cambridge, UK}}</ref>
 
== Outlook ==
Line 149 ⟶ 137:
 
== Mills's critique of sociology at the time ==
Since he wasWhile a sociologist himself, some{{who?|date=October 2023}} may be surprised to learn that Mills was still quite critical of the sociological approach during his time. In fact, scholars saw ''The Sociological Imagination'' as "Mills' final break with academic sociology."<ref name="McQuarie">McQuarie, Donald. 1989. “[https://www.jstor.org/stable/27698482 The Sociological Imagination: Reclaiming a Vision?]” ''American Sociologist.'' 20(3):291-96.</ref> In thisthe process of laying out the eponymous theory of sociological workimagination, Mills was critical of specific people, suchcriticizing asTalcott Parsons' theories and the work of Paul Lazarsfeld, a member of his department at Columbia. While Mills did have frustrations with Parsons's theories and the Columbia department, his arguments in ''The Sociological Imagination'' are based in more than retaliatory remarks.<ref name= "McQuarie"/> WhileNonetheless, while ''The Sociological Imagination'' was and is still is sometimes read as "an attack on empirical research" when it is reallymuch closer to "a critique of a certain research style."<ref name="McQuarie"/> Mills was worried about sociology falling into the traps of normative thinking and ceasing to be a critic of social life. Throughout his academic career, Mills fought with mainstream sociology about different conflicting sociological styles.<ref, name="McQuarie"/> Mills wasbeing primarily worried about social sciences beingbecoming susceptible to the "power and prestige of normative culture" and veering away from its original objective.<ref name="McQuarie"/> It is difficult to say whether or not sociology moved in the direction that Mills feared. However, scholars do know thatUp until his death, Mills fought to maintain what he thought was the integrity of sociology.{{editorializing|date=October 2023}}
 
== Published work ==
Line 167 ⟶ 155:
''[[The Power Elite]]'' (1956) describes the relationships among the political, military, and economic elites, noting that they share a common world view; that power rests in the centralization of authority within the elites of American society.{{sfn|Mann|2008}}{{page needed|date=May 2019}} The centralization of authority is made up of the following components: a "military metaphysic", in other words a military definition of reality; "class identity", recognizing themselves as separate from and superior to the rest of society; "interchangeability" (they move within and between the three institutional structures and hold interlocking positions of power therein); cooperation/socialization, in other words, socialization of prospective new members is done based on how well they "clone" themselves socially after already established elites. Mills's view on the power elite is that they represent their own interest, which include maintaining a "[[permanent war economy]]" to control the ebbs and flow of American Capitalism and the masking of "a manipulative social and political order through the mass media."{{sfn|Sim|Parker|1997}}{{page needed|date=October 2021}} Additionally, this work can be described as "an exploration of rational-legal bureaucratic authority and its effects on the wielders and subjects of this power."<ref name=":0" /> President Dwight D. Eisenhower referenced Mills and this book in his farewell address of 1961. He warned about the dangers of a "military-industrial complex" as he had slowed the push for increased military defense in his time as president for two terms. This idea of a "military-industrial complex" is a reference to Mills' writing in ''The Power Elite,'' showing what influence this book had on certain powerful figures.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eisenhower |first=Dwight D. |date=January 17, 1961 |title=President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Address |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/president-dwight-d-eisenhowers-farewell-address |access-date= |website=National Archives}}</ref>
 
''The Causes of World War Three'' (1958) and ''Listen, Yankee'' (1960) were important works that followed. In both, Mills attempts to create a moral voice for society and make the power elite responsible to the "public".{{sfnm |1a1=C.&nbsp;W. Mills |1y=2000a |2a1=Scimecca |2y=1977|Page number=207}}{{page needed|date=October 2021}} Although ''Listen, Yankee'' was considered highly controversial, it was an exploration of the [[Cuban Revolution]] written from the viewpoint of a Cuban revolutionary and was a very innovative style of writing for that period in American history.{{sfn|C.&nbsp;W. Mills|2000a|p=365}}{{page needed|date=May 2019}} In his paper on Mills's work, Elwell describes ''The Causes of World War Three'' as a jeremiad on Weber's ideas., Moreparticularly specifically on his viewthat of "crackpot realism": (" the disjunction between institutional rationality and human reason").<ref name=":0" />
 
''[[The Sociological Imagination]]'' (1959), which is considered Mills's most influential book,{{efn|''[[The Sociological Imagination]]'' ranked second (outranked only by [[Max Weber]]'s ''[[Economy and Society]]'') in a 1997 survey asking members of the [[International Sociological Association]] to identify the books published in the 20th century most influential on sociologists.<ref>{{cite web |title=Books of the Century |url=http://www.isa-sociology.org/books/vt/bkv_000.htm |url-status=dead |publisher=International Sociological Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918110125/http://www.isa-sociology.org/books/vt/bkv_000.htm |archive-date=September 18, 2015 |access-date=September 22, 2015}}</ref>}} describes a mindset for studying sociology, the [[sociological imagination]], that stresses being able to connect individual experiences and societal relationships. The three components that form the sociological imagination are history, biography, and social structure. Mills asserts that a critical task for social scientists is to "translate personal troubles into public issues".{{sfn|C.&nbsp;W. Mills|2000b|p=187}}{{page needed|date=May 2019}} The distinction between troubles and issues is that troubles relate to how a single person feels about something while issues refer to how a society affects groups of people. For instance, a man who cannot find employment is experiencing a trouble, while a city with a massive unemployment rate makes it not just a personal trouble but a public issue.{{sfn|C.&nbsp;W. Mills|2012|pp=13–18}} This book helped the "penetration of a field by a new generation of social scientists dedicated to problems of social change rather than system maintenance".{{sfn|Horowitz|1983|pp=88–89}} Mills bridged the gap between truth and purpose in sociology{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}. Another important part of this book is the interpersonal relations Mills talks about, specifically marriage and divorce. Mills rejects all external class attempts at change because he sees them as a contradiction to the sociological imagination. Mills had{{dubious|date=October 2023}} a lot of sociologists talk about his book, and the feedback was varied. Mills' writing can be seen as a critique of some of his colleagues, which resulted in the book generating a large debate. His critique of the sociological profession is one that was monumental in the field of sociology and that got lots of attention as his most famous work. One can interpret Mills's claim in ''The Sociological Imagination'' as the difficulty humans have in balancing biography and history, personal challenges and societal issues. Sociologists, then, rightly connect their autobiographical, personal challenges to social institutions. Social scientists should then connect those institutions to social structures and locate them within a historical narrative.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills"