Analysis of the Concept of Sociological Imagination

Sociological Imagination is the ability to think ourselves away from the familiar situations of our daily lives and look at them anew. It was expressed by C. Wright Mills as the ‘awareness of the relationship between personal experiences and the wider society.’ Sociological Imagination improves our way of thinking in order to see the world from many perspective. The outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic enables us to largely examine how issues such as, Unemployment, Education, Social grants and Loss of families connect public issues to personal issues in order to shape a new perspective. This sociological imagination essay tends to discuss and unpack these issues in the context of Social imagination and in reference to the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Sociological Imagination is a concept that was introduced by C. Wright Mills. He defined it as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society”. The goal of sociological imagination was to try and connect two social realities namely, personal and public issues. Personal issues refers to the problems experienced by one individual of many whereas, public issues are the results of social issues that affect many, and when these two concepts are connected in our everyday thinking, they give us a greater view to the root of the problem. This is helpful as it provides consciousness in order to be able to comprehend social processes. This can be demonstrated by looking at issues such as unemployment, education, social grants and loss of families in the context of Covid-19.

The Covid-19 pandemic and social distancing that followed have affected all walks of society, one of which is education. With school closure, educational institutions have had to adapt to the new normal. This includes the implementation of home schooling and online learning. Such implementations are most likely to elevate inequality in education and opportunities as families with access to private schooling will be further advantaged compared to families reliant on public schooling, where the transaction to technology assisted learning will be far more difficult. This argument can be supported because, as much as online learning can be easily comprehended, it is far more complex. It requires appropriate software, stable internet connection and computers, and with about 7.5 billion people in the planet only 4.1 billion have internet connection. (IESALC) Other issues include the lack of education on the use to technology because, the switch to online learning requires some kind of training. In consequence, there will be a further delay in the education process and such delays can cause students to lose interest in learning. These students will have no access to education and drop out of school. Tthe number of these learners are predicted to be at approximately 23.8 million. This can have a long term affect such as unemployment.

In addition, Educational institutions offer far more than just education. They are regarded as safe spaces for learners. Schools provide counselling, meals and sports for children. However, with schools being closed and the transition to online learning, children are going days without proper meals, suffering from mental issues at home and cannot rely on sports to keep them out of trouble and help them escape from personal troubles such as abusive parents .According to Darren Daronco ‘Teachers and school personnel’s consists of, one of the largest groups to report child abuse. There has been an average of 23 percent decrease in calls to our hotline since school closure and lockdown’. This indicates that many children are suffering in silent. This further raises awareness that the previous educational system of live interactions, prior to the covid-19 pandemic, was better able to cater to the needs of learners.

The ongoing covid-19 pandemic and the measures taken to overcome it did not just negatively affect education, however, had significant impact on the economy and social lives of individuals. They threatened jobs, well-being and long-term livelihoods of millions of South Africans. With the closure of several businesses, millions are retrenched and left unemployed. This was reflected in the closure of the greyhound bus services. COSATU spokesperson, went on to state that, ‘not only will hundreds of workers lose their jobs, but their families will be plunged into poverty’. This suggests that crime rates will increase as people are unable to afford their day to day expenses. Failure to sustain unemployment leads people into crimes such as drug dealing, prostitution, car-jacking and domestic violence. Christofferson observed that unemployed parents who become distressed may be less nurturing and violent with their children. Other studies have also found that financial deprivation is associated with harsher parent-adolescent relationships.

Furthermore, individuals, especially women deal with larger social issues such as gender based violent as consequence of unemployment. Although it was an ingoing issue prior to Covid-19, it have since then heightened. In a household where both partners are employed, they share equal power. However, due to Covid-19 many women who are informally employed were retrenched and deemed dependent on their partners. Such power from a working male may often results to abuse. According to Anna, ‘In South Africa, over 35% women are employed informally’. This means women endure unique impacts of the economic recession that resulted to unemployment as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. The lack of financial independence reduces their freedom and leaves them with fewer resources to leave their violent partners.

In times like these many people look up to the government for solutions to ease the problems faced by the public. The South African government responded by announcing the R50 billion allocation to assist vulnerable households. The social assistance package included the temporary increase in existing grants and the introduction of the Social Relief Grant of Distress for those who are unemployed and are not receiving other forms of government assistance. This helped many South Africans stay afloat. With many South Africans being retrenched, the social Relief grant Of Distress was deemed efficient in providing financial relief. Bassier stated that, the child support grant boost of R300 per month would improve majority of low income households and it is seen as one of the most effective anti-poverty preventions in South Africa. This suggests that such household will be better able to cater to the needs of the children, such as buying proper nutrition to help them grow.

In a worldwide rapidly increasing pandemic such as the Corona Virus, multiple families are experiencing ongoing losses. With thousands of South Africans having contracted the virus many have managed to survive. However, individuals who have serious health conditions and the elderly have very limited chances of survival. According to Amber L Mueller ‘Adults over the age of 65 years represent 80% of hospitalization and have a 23-fold greater chance of death than those under 65 years of age’. Often times in uneducated, rural households, they rely of the grandparent’s old age pension. Therefore, the passing of the pension holder leaves such families in poverty. Additional heartaches arises when they cannot afford the burial costs and carry out traditions to honour their loved ones and relatives cannot assist closely as gatherings are prohibited for burial rituals.

In conclusion, it can be said that the concept of Sociological imagination is effective in its purpose of applying the connection of personal issues with public issues in order to better view larger societal issues, namely, unemployment, education, social grants and loss of families and understand them from all points of view. This essay outlined these issues in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and in doing so was able to comprehend that larger societal issues are usually the root of every personal problem and that even though we may think it only impacts individual beings it is not the case, because they often impact the whole society. Thus, demonstrating the importance and value of applying sociological imagination in our everyday lives.