社会杂志 ›› 2012, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4): 1-23.

• 论文 •    下一篇

从“大众社会”到“社会学的想像力” 理解米尔斯的一条内在线索

闻  翔   

  1. 中国社会科学院社会学所
  • 出版日期:2012-07-20 发布日期:2012-07-20
  • 通讯作者: 闻 翔 中国社会科学院社会学所 E-mail:wenxiang@cass.org.cn E-mail:wenxiang@cass.org.cn
  • 作者简介:闻 翔 中国社会科学院社会学所
  • 基金资助:

    本研究受到中国社会科学院社会学所课题“米尔斯的学术遗产与当代意义”的经费资助。

From the “Mass Society” to “The Sociological Imagination”: Understanding an Intrinsic Clue to C. Wright Mills’s Sociological Writings

WEN Xiang   

  1. Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
  • Online:2012-07-20 Published:2012-07-20
  • Contact: WEN Xiang, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences E-mail:wenxiang@cass.org.cn
  • About author:WEN Xiang, Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

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摘要：

摘要：本文试图阐明，在米尔斯对美国社会的经验研究与其关于社会科学的认识论纲领之间存在着一以贯之的内在逻辑。通过对米尔斯最具代表性的三个经验研究成果，即由《权力新贵：美国的劳工领袖》、《白领：美国的中产阶级》以及《权力精英》所组成的“美国社会分层三部曲”的考察，作者发现，从这些研究中所浮现出的“大众社会”图景深刻地影响了米尔斯关于“社会学的想像力”的论述。在此基础上，本文进一步揭示了米尔斯的社会学著述所关注的两个基本问题，即对于社会变迁可能性的探寻，以及对于现代社会中人的意义的关切。

关键词: 大众社会, 社会学的想像力, 米尔斯

Abstract:

Abstract： This paper tries to explain an intrinsic clue in Mills’s empirical study of American society and the epistemological proposal of social sciences. In his stratification trilogy, which consists of New Men of Power: America’s Labor Leaders (1948), White Collar: The American Middle Class (1951), and Men of Power (1956), Mills depicted a grey picture of the mass society, where the power was concentrated in the hands of small groups of elites while the labor and white collar were powerless and indifferent. The Sociological Imagination, which was published after the trilogy, inherited the substantive analysis of the mass society in the trilogy and further raised the problem of human nature in the mass society, namely, the problem of socalled “happy robot.” On the other hand, it discussed what stance, position, and intervention intellectuals and social researchers should take when facing such a mass society in formation. In particular, Mills proposed how to use the sociological imagination to pursue the ideal of a democratic society. Thus, the trace from the “mass society” to “the sociological imagination” constitutes an intrinsic clue to an understanding of Mills. On this basis, the paper further discusses the two main issues in Mills’ sociological writings, namely, to explore the possibility of social change, and to care about the human meaning in modern society.

Key words: mass society, the sociological imagination, C. Wright Mills