It is the political task of the social scientist - as of any liberal educator - continually to translate personal troubles into public issues, and public issues into the terms of their human meaning for a variety of individuals. It is his task to display in his work - and, as an educator, in his life as well - this kind of sociological imagination. And it is his purpose to cultivate such habits of mind among the men and women who are publicly exposed to him. To secure these ends is to secure reason and individuality, and to make these the predominant values of a democratic society.
More from C. Wright Mills
[O]ne could translate the 555 pages of The Social System into about 150 pages of straightforward English. The result would not be very impressive.
Permalink to quote #24 One great lesson that we can learn from its systematic absence in the work of the grand theorists is that every self-conscious thinker must at all times be awa…
Permalink to quote #26 Without an industrial economy, the modern army, as in America, could not exist; it is an army of machines. Professional economists usually consider military in…
Permalink to quote #23