Social Theorists
C. Wright Mills
Sociology
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C. Wright Mills was an American sociologist known for his sharply critical analyses of power and for urging sociology toward a more publicly engaged, historically grounded practice. In The Sociological Imagination (1959) he argued that the discipline's task is to connect personal troubles to broader public issues and historical structures, a stance he set against both abstract grand theory and narrow empiricism. In The Power Elite (1956) he argued that a relatively small, interlocking group of military, corporate, and political leaders had come to dominate decision-making in American society, a thesis that made him one of the most influential and contested critics of mid-century American sociology's consensus assumptions.
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Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionAnalyzed the concentration of power in American society in The Power Elite and advocated public, political engagement by intellectuals over disinterested observation; popularized the term "New Left". 1 Notable WorkThe Sociological Imagination 1 Sources
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (birth date)Quote, Opening sentence (birth date)
Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (birth year)Quote, Opening sentence (birth year)
Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (death date)Quote, Opening sentence (death date)
Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (death year)Quote, Opening sentence (death year)
Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaEarly life section, opening sentenceQuote, Early life section, opening sentence
C. Wright Mills was born in Waco, Texas, on August 28, 1916.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLater life section, death sentenceQuote, Later life section, death sentence
In 1962, Mills suffered his fourth and final heart attack at the age of 45, and died on March 20 in West Nyack, New York.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaOpening sentence (nationality)Quote, Opening sentence (nationality)
Charles Wright Mills (August 28, 1916 – March 20, 1962) was an American sociologist, and a professor of sociology at Columbia University from 1946 until his death in 1962.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, first paragraphQuote, Lead paragraph, first paragraph
Mills published widely in both popular and intellectual journals, and is remembered for several books, such as The Power Elite, White Collar: The American Middle Classes, and The Sociological Imagination, which was in 1998 named by the International Sociological Association as the second most important sociological book of the 20th century.
1. C. Wright Mills (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead paragraph, second paragraphQuote, Lead paragraph, second paragraph
It was Mills who popularized the term "New Left" in the U.S., in a 1960 open letter "Letter to the New Left".
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