Commit Sociology

Abstract

This article elaborates how C. Wright Mills’ “sociological imagination” invites us to “commit sociology.” We argue critical thinking is the foundation of a liberal arts education, and its purpose is to have students recognize that the social world is constantly being constructed and reconstructed—how exactly depends upon the power dynamics embedded in the social, economic, and political institutions of any given time and place. Yet it is very challenging to achieve an awareness of the larger social processes in which our everyday actions are embedded or to recognize the role our everyday practices have in the maintenance or erosion of existing social injustices and inequalities. Moreover, political leaders feel threatened when their agendas, policies, and actions are questioned by the masses. Committing sociology—ipso facto being a successful liberal arts graduate engaged in public debates—threatens political leaders because it calls them to account for their ideologies and the impacts of their policies: a “crime” indeed.