Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "C. Wright Mills" - New World

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Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916, Waco, Texas – March 20, 1962, Nyack, New York) was an American sociologist. His writings addressed the responsibilities of intellectuals in post-World War II society and advocated relevance and engagement over disinterested academic observation.

Life

Charles Wright Mills was born in Waco, Texas in 1916. His father worked in the insurance industry and his mother was a housewife. Mills had a lonely childhood as continuous friendships were difficult due to his family's moving often [1].

Mills married his first wife, Dorothy Smith-Freya, in 1937. Tensions developed in the relationship as she asserted her intellectual individuality [2]. Mills received both a bachelor's (in sociology) and a master's degree (in philosophy) from the University of Texas at Austin in 1939. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1941.

His high blood pressure earned him a deferment from the Draft, and enabled Mills to begin his career in academia at the University of Maryland in 1942. Mills and his wife had a daughter, Pamela, in 1943. In 1946, he took a faculty position at Columbia University. In 1947, Mills was divorced, and he married his second wife, Ruth Harper, who had been a research assistant to Mills. They had a daughter, Kathryn, in 1955.

Mills was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Fulbright scholarship, lecturing at the University of Copenhagen in 1956. He divorced his second wife in 1959. Later in 1959, Mills married his third wife, Yaroslava Surmach, and had a son, Nikolas. Mills died of a heart attack on March 20, 1962 at his home in West Nyack, New York.

Work

According to the basic shape of any intellectual portrait of C. Wright Mills, his essays—as published in his anthology The Sociological Imagination (1961)—are of particular interest. The appendix "On Intellectual Craftsmanship" gives an insight into what a sociologist as a social scientist whenever working creatively, like an artist, is able to work out.

Mills believed that substance and appearance are by no means identical. Whenever substance and appearance are looked upon as identical there is no need for science, scientists, or scholars at all. Given this setting, Mills was indeed, as Irving L. Horowitz told us, a social scientist sharply contradicting the bulk of mainstream sociology. When G.F.W. Hegel once stated: "The most reasonable thing children can do with their toy is to break it to pieces" (Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse, part III) this might express the attitude of C. Wright Mills whenever looking at the mainstream concepts of sociology of his time.

Mills was heavily influenced by Marxist thought:

He echoed the idea of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that "It is not the consciousness determinating the every-day-life but it is the very life [pre] determinating the consciousness" (The German Ideology, 1st part, on Ludwig Feuerbach).
He was against any individualistic, reductionist, and obscure images of what constitutes society. This concept channels the Marxist idea that "Any society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of relationships [and] conditions that the individual actor is forming" (Karl Marx: Grundrisse der Kritik der politischen Ökonomie/Rohentwurf, 1857/58: "Gesellschaft besteht nicht aus Individuen, sondern drückt die Summe der Beziehungen, Verhältnisse aus, worin diese Individuen zueinander stehn").

Mills shared with Marxist sociology and elite theorists the view that society is divided rather sharply and horizontally between the powerful and powerless. He also shared their concerns for alienation, the effects of social structure on the personality and the manipulation of people by the mass media. At the same time, however, Mills did not regard property (economic power) as the main source of conflict in society.

Mills argued that micro and macro levels of analysis can be linked together by the sociological imagination, which enables its possessor to understand the large historical sense in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. Individuals can only understand their own experiences fully if they locate themselves within their period of history. The key factor is the combination of private troubles with public issues: the combination of troubles that occur within the individual’s immediate milieu and relations with other people with matters that have to do with institutions of an historical society as a whole.

Mills thought it was possible to create a good society on the basis of knowledge, and that people of knowledge must take responsibility for its absence.

Major Works

The New Men of Power

The New Men of Power: America's Labor Leaders (1948) analyzed the "labor metaphysic," which is the traditionally held belief that labor movements drive social consciousness towards advancement. Mills looked at the dynamic of labor leaders cooperating with business officials. He concluded that labor movements are appeased by simple concessions and that labor leaders and businessmen are actually part of the same system of capitalism.

White Collar

White Collar: The American Middle Classes (1951) contended that bureaucracies have overwhelmed the individual city worker, robbing him or her of all independent thought and turning him into an oppressed, yet cheerful, "robot." He or she receives a salary, but becomes alienated from the world because of his or her inability to affect or change it. Mills included a discussion of the "typical American," which has evolved from a frontiersman to the white-collar life of today.

The Power Elite

The Power Elite (1956) described the relationship between the political, military, and economic elite in America. Mills noted that these people share a common world view:

the "military metaphysic": a military definition of reality
possess "class identity": recognizing themselves separate and superior to the rest of society
have interchangibility: i.e. the ability to move within and between the three institutional structures and hold interlocking directorates
co-optation: socialization of prospective new members is done based on how well they "clone" themselves socially after such elites.

These elites in the "big three" institutional orders have an alliance based upon their "community of interests" driven by the military metaphysic, which has transformed the economy into a "permanent war economy." Dwight Eisenhower’s election as president gave a clear image of the entwinement of these bases of power in the military-industrial complex. This book is particularly relevant in consideration of America's post-9/11 "War on Terror."

The Sociological Imagination

The Sociological Imagination (1959) described a mindset (the "sociological imagination") for doing sociology that stresses being able to connect individual experiences and societal relationships. The three components that form the sociological imagination are:

History: how a society came to be and how it is changing and how history is being made in it
Biography: the nature of "human nature" in a society; what kind of people inhabit a particular society
Social Structure: how the various institutional orders in a society operate, which ones are dominant and how are they held together and how they might be changing etc.

The "Sociological Imagination" gives the one possessing it the ability to look beyond their local environment and personality to wider social structures and a relationship between history, biography and social structure. Mills criticized other schools of sociology including the grand theory of Talcott Parsons, which he believed was rarely based in reality. Mills also spoke out against overuse of statistics, which he said can only be afforded by large bureaucracies and leads to the bureaucratization of academia.

Mills' other works include: The Causes of World War Three (1958), Listen, Yankee: The Revolution in Cuba (1960), The Marxists (1962), and From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology (1958), a widely used translation of Max Weber's works.

Legacy

While many academics were unwilling to tackle controversial subjects or form strong opinions, Mills eagerly did both. He criticized others for their unwillingness to take a stand, which contributed to his reputation as brash. These harsh criticisms and his commitment to social change placed Mills outside of mainstream academia [3]. Yet, his outspoken opinion that social scientists should not be only observers of society but should also take responsibility to act for the betterment of society based on their findings, has stimulated others to act in this way.

Mills also drew the ire of his contemporaries for offering support to Cuban president, Fidel Castro. Ideas critical of the administration such as those found in The Power Elite, along with support of the communists in Cuba which Mills saw as the "third way," were particularly bold considering the blacklisting of suspected American communists that occurred in Mills' lifetime.

Nevetheless, Mills' legacy can be found in the his introduction of Weber's thought into American sociology. Mills' own work drew heavily on Weber's ideas, applying them to the American social and political situation.

External links

Credits

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@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Life==
-Mills was born in Waco, Texas in 1916. His father worked in the insurance industry and his mother was a housewife. Mills had a lonely childhood as continuous friendships were difficult due to his family's moving often [http://www.uab.edu/philosophy/SIG_Mills_Bio1.htm].
+'''Charles Wright Mills''' was born in Waco, Texas in 1916. His father worked in the [[insurance]] industry and his mother was a housewife. Mills had a lonely childhood as continuous friendships were difficult due to his family's moving often [http://www.uab.edu/philosophy/SIG_Mills_Bio1.htm].
-Mills married his first wife, Dorothy Smith-Freya, in 1937. Tensions developed in the relationship as Freya asserted her intellectual individuality [http://www.uab.edu/philosophy/SIG_Mills_Bio1.htm]. Mills received both a bachelor's (in sociology) and a master's degree (in philosophy) from the [[University of Texas at Austin]] in 1939.  He received his Ph.D. from the [[University of Wisconsin]] in 1941.  His high blood pressure earned him a deferment from the draft and enabled Mills to begin his career in academia at the [[University of Maryland]] in 1942. Mills and Freya had a daughter, Pamela, in 1943. In 1946 he took a faculty position at [[Columbia University]]. In 1947, Mills and Freya were divorced and Mills married his second wife, Ruth Harper, who had been a research assistant to Mills. Mills and Harper had a daughter, Kathryn, in 1955. Mills was the recipient of a [[Guggenheim Fellowship]] and a [[Fulbright grant]], lecturing at the [[University of Copenhagen]] in 1956. He divorced Harper in 1959. Later in 1959, Mills married his third wife Yaroslava Surmach and had a son, Nikolas. Mills died of a heart attack on March 20, 1962 at his home in West Nyack, New York.
+Mills married his first wife, Dorothy Smith-Freya, in 1937. Tensions developed in the relationship as she asserted her intellectual individuality [http://www.uab.edu/philosophy/SIG_Mills_Bio1.htm]. Mills received both a bachelor's (in [[sociology]]) and a master's degree (in [[philosophy]]) from the University of Texas at Austin in 1939. He received his Ph.D. from the [[University of Wisconsin]]* in 1941.
+His high blood pressure earned him a deferment from [[conscription|the Draft]], and enabled Mills to begin his career in academia at the University of Maryland in 1942. Mills and his wife had a daughter, Pamela, in 1943. In 1946, he took a faculty position at [[Columbia University]]. In 1947, Mills was divorced, and he married his second wife, Ruth Harper, who had been a research assistant to Mills. They had a daughter, Kathryn, in 1955.
+Mills was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a [[Fulbright scholarship]], lecturing at the University of Copenhagen in 1956. He divorced his second wife in 1959. Later in 1959, Mills married his third wife, Yaroslava Surmach, and had a son, Nikolas. Mills died of a heart attack on March 20, 1962 at his home in West Nyack, New York.
 ==Work==
-According to the basic shape of any intellectual portrait of C. Wright Mills, his essays - as published in his anthology "The Sociological Imagination" (Oxford University Press, 1961) - are of particular interest. The appendix "On Intellectual Craftsmanship" gives an insight into what a sociologist as a social scientist whenever working creatively, like an artist, is able to work out. Mills believed that substance and appearance are by no means identical.  Whenever substance and appearance are looked upon as identical there is no need for science, scientists, or scholars at all. Given this setting, Mills was indeed, as Irving L. Horowitz told us, a social scientist sharply contradicting the bulk of mainstream sociology. When G.F.W. [[Hegel]] once stated: "The most reasonable thing children can do with their toy is to break it to pieces" (Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse, part III) this might express the attitude of C. Wright Mills whenever looking at the mainstream concepts of the sociology of his time.
+According to the basic shape of any intellectual portrait of C. Wright Mills, his essays&mdash;as published in his anthology ''The Sociological Imagination'' (1961)&mdash;are of particular interest. The appendix "On Intellectual Craftsmanship" gives an insight into what a [[sociology|sociologist]] as a [[social sciences|social scientist]] whenever working creatively, like an artist, is able to work out.
+Mills believed that [[substance]] and [[appearance]] are by no means identical. Whenever substance and appearance are looked upon as identical there is no need for [[science]], scientists, or scholars at all. Given this setting, Mills was indeed, as Irving L. Horowitz told us, a social scientist sharply contradicting the bulk of mainstream sociology. When G.F.W. [[Hegel]] once stated: "The most reasonable thing children can do with their toy is to break it to pieces" (Enzyklopädie der philosophischen Wissenschaften im Grundrisse, part III) this might express the attitude of C. Wright Mills whenever looking at the mainstream concepts of sociology of his time.
-Mills was heavily influenced by Marxist thought:
+Mills was heavily influenced by [[Marxism|Marxist]] thought:
 * He echoed the idea of [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]] that "It is not the consciousness determinating the every-day-life but it is the very life [pre] determinating the consciousness" (The German Ideology, 1st part, on Ludwig Feuerbach).
 * He was against any individualistic, reductionist, and obscure images of what constitutes society. This concept channels the Marxist idea that "Any society does not consist of individuals but expresses the sum of relationships [and] conditions that the individual actor is forming" ([[Karl Marx]]: Grundrisse der Kritik der politischen Ökonomie/Rohentwurf, 1857/58: "Gesellschaft besteht nicht aus Individuen, sondern drückt die Summe der Beziehungen, Verhältnisse aus, worin diese Individuen zueinander stehn").
-Mills shared with Marxist sociology and elite theorists the view that society is divided rather sharply and horizontally between the powerful and powerless. He also shared their concerns for alienation, the effects of social structure on the personality and the manipulation of people by the mass media. At the same time however Mills did not regard property (economic power) as the main source of conflict in society.
+Mills shared with Marxist sociology and elite theorists the view that society is divided rather sharply and horizontally between the powerful and powerless. He also shared their concerns for [[alienation]], the effects of [[social structure]] on the [[personality]] and the manipulation of people by the [[mass media]]. At the same time, however, Mills did not regard [[property]] (economic power) as the main source of [[conflict]] in society.
 Mills argued that micro and macro levels of analysis can be linked together by the sociological imagination, which enables its possessor to understand the large historical sense in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. Individuals can only understand their own experiences fully if they locate themselves within their period of history. The key factor is the combination of private troubles with public issues: the combination of troubles that occur within the individual’s immediate milieu and relations with other people with matters that have to do with institutions of an historical society as a whole.
-Mills thought it was possible to create a good society on the basis of knowledge and that people of knowledge must take responsibility for its absence.
+Mills thought it was possible to create a good society on the basis of knowledge, and that people of knowledge must take responsibility for its absence.
+==Major Works==
+===The New Men of Power===
+''The New Men of Power: America's Labor Leaders'' (1948) analyzed the "labor metaphysic," which is the traditionally held belief that labor movements drive social consciousness towards advancement. Mills looked at the dynamic of [[labor]] leaders cooperating with business officials. He concluded that labor movements are appeased by simple concessions and that labor leaders and businessmen are actually part of the same system of [[capitalism]].
-===Major Works===
+===White Collar===
-''[[The New Men of Power: America's Labor Leaders]]'' (1948) analyzes the 'labor metaphysic,' which is the traditionally held belief that labor movements drive social consciousness towards advancement. Mills looked at the dynamic of labor leaders cooperating with business officials. He concluded that labor movements are appeased by simple concessions and that labor leaders and businessmen are actually part of the same system of capitalism.
+''White Collar: The American Middle Classes'' (1951) contended that [[bureaucracy|bureaucracies]] have overwhelmed the individual city worker, robbing him or her of all independent thought and turning him into an oppressed, yet cheerful, "robot." He or she receives a salary, but becomes [[alienation|alienated]] from the world because of his or her inability to affect or change it. Mills included a discussion of the "typical American," which has evolved from a frontiersman to the white-collar life of today.
-''[[White Collar: The American Middle Classes]]'' (1951) contends that bureaucracies have overwhelmed the individual city worker, robbing him or her of all independent thought and turning him into an oppressed, yet cheerful, robot. He or she gets a salary, but becomes alienated from the world because of his or her inability to affect or change it. Mills included a discussion of the 'typical American,' which has evolved from a frontiersman to the white-collar life of today.
+===The Power Elite===
+''The Power Elite'' (1956) described the relationship between the political, military, and economic elite in [[United States|America]]. Mills noted that these people share a common world view:
+#the "military metaphysic": a military definition of reality
+#possess "class identity": recognizing themselves separate and superior to the rest of society
+#have interchangibility: i.e. the ability to move within and between the three institutional structures and hold interlocking directorates
+#co-optation: socialization of prospective new members is done based on how well they "clone" themselves socially after such elites.
+These elites in the "big three" institutional orders have an alliance based upon their "community of interests" driven by the military metaphysic, which has transformed the economy into a "permanent war economy." [[Dwight Eisenhower]]’s election as [[president]] gave a clear image of the entwinement of these bases of power in the military-industrial complex. This book is particularly relevant in consideration of America's post-9/11 "War on Terror."
-''[[The Power Elite]]'' (1956) describes the relationship between the political, military, and economic elite in America. Mills noted that these people share a common world view: 1) the "military metaphysic"- a military definition of reality, possess 2) "class identity"- recognizing themselves separate and superior to the rest of society, have 3) interchangibility: i.e. the ability to move within and between the three institutional structures and hold interlocking directorates 4) co-optation: socialization of prospective new members is done based on how well they "clone" themselves socially after such elites. These elites in the "big three" institutional orders have an alliance based upon their "community of interests" driven by the military metaphysic, which has transformed the economy into a 'permanent war economy.' Dwight Eisenhower’s election as president gives a clear image of the entwinement of these bases of power in the military-industrial complex. This book is particularly relevant in consideration of America's current War on Terror.
+===The Sociological Imagination===
+''The Sociological Imagination'' (1959) described a mindset (the "sociological imagination") for doing [[sociology]] that stresses being able to connect individual experiences and societal relationships. The three components that form the sociological imagination are:
+#History: how a society came to be and how it is changing and how history is being made in it
+#Biography: the nature of "human nature" in a society; what kind of people inhabit a particular society
+#Social Structure: how the various institutional orders in a society operate, which ones are dominant and how are they held together and how they might be changing etc.
+The "Sociological Imagination" gives the one possessing it the ability to look beyond their local environment and [[personality]] to wider [[social structure]]s and a relationship between [[history]], [[biography]] and social structure. Mills criticized other schools of sociology including the grand theory of [[Talcott Parsons]], which he believed was rarely based in reality. Mills also spoke out against overuse of [[statistics]], which he said can only be afforded by large [[bureaucracy|bureaucracies]] and leads to the bureaucratization of academia.
-''[[The Sociological Imagination]]'' (1959) describes a mindset&mdash;the [[sociological imagination]]&mdash;for doing sociology that stresses being able to connect individual experiences and societal relationships. The three components that form the sociological imagination are 1. History: how a society came to be and how it is changing and how history is being made in it 2. Biography: the nature of "human nature" in a society; what kind of people inhabit a particular society 3. Social Structure: how the various institutional orders in a society operate, which ones are dominant and how are they held together and how they might be changing etc. The Sociological Imagination gives the one possessing it the ability to look beyond their local environment and personality to wider social structures and a relationship between history, biography and social structure. Mills criticized other schools of sociology including the grand theory of [[Talcott Parsons]], which he believed was rarely based in reality. Mills also spoke out against overuse of statistics, which he says can only be afforded by large bureaucracies and is leading to the bureaucratization of academia.
+Mills' other  works include: ''The Causes of World War Three'' (1958), ''Listen, Yankee: The Revolution in Cuba'' (1960), ''The Marxists'' (1962), and ''From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology'' (1958), a widely used translation of [[Max Weber]]'s works.
+==Legacy==
+While many academics were unwilling to tackle controversial subjects or form strong opinions, Mills eagerly did both. He criticized others for their unwillingness to take a stand, which contributed to his reputation as brash. These harsh criticisms and his commitment to [[social change]] placed Mills outside of mainstream academia [http://www.infed.org/thinkers/wright_mills.htm]. Yet, his outspoken opinion that [[social scientist]]s should not be only observers of society but should also take responsibility to act for the betterment of society based on their findings, has stimulated others to act in this way.
-Other  works include: ''[[The Causes of World War Three]]'' (1958), ''[[Listen, Yankee:  The Revolution in Cuba]]'' (1960), ''[[The Marxists]]'' (1962), and ''[[From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology]]'' (1958), a widely used translation of [[Max Weber]]'s works.
+Mills also drew the ire of his contemporaries for offering support to [[Cuba]]n president, [[Fidel Castro]]. Ideas critical of the administration such as those found in ''The Power Elite'', along with support of the [[communism|communists]] in Cuba which Mills saw as the "third way," were particularly bold considering the blacklisting of suspected American communists that occurred in Mills' lifetime.
-==Legacy==
-While many professors were unwilling  to tackle controversial subjects or form strong opinions, Mills eagerly did both. He criticized others for their unwillingness to take stands, which contributed to his reputation as brash. These harsh criticisms and commitment to social change placed Mills outside of mainstream academia [http://www.infed.org/thinkers/wright_mills.htm].
-Mills also drew the ire of his contemporaries for offering support to Cuban president, [[Fidel Castro]]. Ideas critical of the administration such as those found in ''[[The Power Elite]]'', along with support of the communists in Cuba, which Mills saw as the 'third way' were particularly bold considering the blacklisting of suspected American communists occurring in Mills' lifetime.
+Nevetheless, Mills' legacy can be found in the his introduction of [[Max Weber|Weber]]'s thought into American [[sociology]]. Mills' own work drew heavily on Weber's ideas, applying them to the American social and political situation.
 ==Further reading==