John Nagle

Mills said that when we develop a sociological imagination we begin to see how wider social forces connect with our personal biographies. For Mills, the sociological imagination is particularly powerful when we identify the society we live in, rather any personal or individual failings, as responsible for many of our problems.

Alienation resulted from individuals belonging to social classes, particularly the working class, and was thus a product of the capitalist system. As such, the capitalist class – the owners of factories – benefitted from the power that alienation had over the workers. Although it took many forms, a key form of alienation occurred when workers competed with each other for jobs and salaries.

point of research and the collection of knowledge is that we can use it to challenge the power of capitalists and the society they have built, and to create a world free of socioeconomic inequalities.