Lecture 8

C. Wright Mills

C. Wright Mills

main rival of Michels

critical

Mills was a ________ sociologist

Marx

Mills was influenced by _______ because he focused on inequality and elite domination

Weber

Mills was influenced by _______ because he focused on politics and power

materialism

Mills didn't accept Marxist ______

du Bois

Mills was influenced by ____ ______ because he highlighted social problems to correct them

individual problem

a problem caused by individual characteristics, choices, actions

social problem

a problem that individuals suffer from but that is promoted by the social environment

unemployed, orders

an example of an individual problem is one individual who is _______ because they didn't follow boss's _______

community, available

an example of a social problem is half of the _______ is unemployed because no jobs are ______

individual problems

social problems promote ______ ______

social problems

Mills believed that there were more and more ________ ______

individualism

according to Mills, modernity was creating institutions that promoted greater _______

modernity, control

according to Mills, _________ creates the false impression that we ______ our lives

ourselves

the combination of social problems with individualism results in us blaming the problems on ________

sociology

Mills viewed _______ as the cure

sociological imagination

the ability to connect seemingly impersonal and remote historical/social forces to the incidents of an individual's life

individualism

the sociological imagination is against all-powerful ________

affect

the sociological imagination allows us to see how social problems ________ us

understand

the sociological imagination allows us to better ________ ourselves and others

bad

individual problem sees missing aboriginal women as defective because they made _______ choices

sociological imagination

Mills argues that we can't understand the situation/problem if not using the _________ _________ view

agency

our actions make up society and shape history

agency

Mills believed that one's _______ depends on history, social structure, and biography

elites, masses

modernity increased the agency of ______ but decreased the agency of the _________

history, others

the elites with all the power make _______ and have considerable control over the lives of _______

democracy, masses

Mills believed inequality had negative effects on American ______ and disempowered the ______

organizations

according to Mills, _____ are the key to disempowerment

organizational society

Mills focused on larger society, not single organizations

organizations, elites

Mills believed that societies were increasingly dominated by ______ and that organizational ________ dominated society

lives, elites

the most powerful organizations in the US exert great control over individual ______ and a few hundred of power _______ controlled these

agency, millions

each type of elite has enormous _______ and are able to make decisions affecting _________

interlocking directorate

suggests that the 3 components of the power elite are intertwined and not autonomous

cohesive, interests

the interlocking directorate makes a ________ elite community that is able to look out for elite _______

oligarchy, agency

the interlocking directorate promotes a social and political ________ that limits the _______ of the masses

democracy

the interlocking directorate deters ________

government

Mills thought the power elites run the _________ for elite interests

Michael Useem

he argued that we need organizations for a functioning society

good, organizations, society

Michael Useem thought that the concentration of power in organizations is _______ and that organizational elites know what's good for _________ and so this is good for organizational _______

interests, organizations

the interlocking directorate limits the pursuit of particular ________ which promotes general interests of _______

US

Mills thought that his argument was only relevant for the ______ in the 1950s

dominate

organizations should always _________ in organizational societies

John Porter

he introduced the concept of vertical mosaic

mosaic

John Porter takes an ethnic focus by seeing a national ______ of all communities

dominated

Protestants of English origin _________ the elite organizational positions in early 1960s

underrepresented

Francophones, Catholics, European immigrants and Indigenous people were all visible minorities that were _______

stratified, power, powerless

the Canadian mosaic is ______ with members of certain communities holding positions of ______ and agency while others are being largely ______

wealth

new studies generally focus on economic _______, not organizational power

excluded

white communities are no longer ________ from power

Asian

________ Canadians are making considerable gains

marginalized

Black and Indigenous communities are still ________ relative to their population size

pluralist theory

suggests that power is diffuse and that all people organize to pursue their interests in politics

competition

pluralist theory emphasizes _______

dominating

Tocqueville influenced the pluralist view and claims that this prevents any one group from __________

democracy

Tocqueville argues that organizations are good because they promote _________

city, differences

Robert Dahl analyzed ______ politics and found that different groups could work out ________ and could get their interests heard and protected

elite, groups

Robert Dahl's analysis concluded that there were no power _____ and power was dispersed among many ________

pessimistic

Dahl thinks that Mills is overly ________