Toward Teaching A Liberating Sociological Practicality

Abstract

Though C. Wright Mills made a pivotal contribution to the discipline by raising sociologists' awareness of the ideological and bureaucratic content of sociological practicality, he may have placed unyielding limits on “the promise” he profoundly proclaimed in the “sociological imagination.” By defining types of practicality in such rigidly confining terms, as either “liberal” or “illiberal,” those wishing to practice sociology in broader and more expansive ways were left with few of the alternatives Mills himself wished to extol. Over the past generation, the field of applied sociology and teaching and learning sociological practice have struggled to develop in the discipline. This has posed huge challenges for teachers wishing to address the needs of students who have perennially been interested in finding practical possibilities for applying their sociology in jobs and careers. The purpose of this paper is to: 1) examine the concept of sociological practicality propounded by Mills; 2) critically assess the concept of sociological practicality in the historical context of American sociology; 3) identify and discuss a broad typology of models of research and practice from which types of practicality may emerge; 4) discuss the implications of this typology for teaching and learning sociological practice; and 5) conclude by discussing ways of teaching a liberating practicality for sociology.