C. Wright Mills, Pessimistic Radical*

In: Sociological inquiry: the quarterly journal of the International Sociology Honor Society, Band 60, Heft 4, S. 337-351

Abstract

C. Wright Mills was a radical, critical of United States society and of sociology as practiced in this country. His criticisms were especially provocative given the ideological atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s. His writings on stratification were very influential, with several of them having a mass readership. Mills viewed the United States as a society dominated by irresponsible elites and alienated masses. Sociology, he felt, had abdicated its responsibility for showing how larger social forces shape individual lives. While pessimistic about the possibility of fundamental social changes, Mills nevertheless urged intellectuals to use their skills to bring about a society where reason and democracy would prevail. Though marginalized within the profession during his life, he helped inspire the development of a critical perspective within sociology.