Sociological Mindfulness 1SocPerspective Lesson 8

As students join our class, please read this excerpt, Sociological Mindfulness, from sociologist Michael Schwalbe's book, The Sociologically Examined Life.

Sociological Literacy: Sociological Mindfulness

The third theory that helps us have a sociological perspective is from a recent sociologist, Michael Schwalbe who wrote the book The Sociologically Examined Life.  In it, Schwalbe explains the concept of sociological mindfulness, in this excerpt.

Here is the Google Form for this lesson.

After reading the excerpt, answer these:

1) What does Schwalbe mean by "sociological mindfulness?"

2) How is this different from sociological imagination?

3) Why does Schwalbe say we should bother with sociological mindfulness?

4)What are some ways that you might live your life differently or view aspects of your life differently if you live with sociological mindfulness?

Schwalbe's "sociological mindfulness" can be a difficult idea to grasp and Schwalbe admits that.  Mindfulness is a  concept that describes an awareness in the world at this moment here and now.  It implies being tuned in to the present moment.  Sociological mindfulness, therefore, is being tuned into both the way in which the present moment is influenced by society and also being tuned in to how we are a player in shaping the present moment.  The simple way I look at sociological mindfulness is that it is the mirror image of sociological imagination.  In other words, once we realize that people are influenced by their social setting, we can then realize that influence is happening right now and we are a part of it.  Each of us is both influenced by other people and influencing other people.

So, I think there are 3 critical aspects to sociological mindfulness.

First, in being tuned in to a sociological awareness, we can see and appreciate how we are affected by when and where we live and all of the social experiences that entails.  That is, we can think with a sociological imagination about ourselves.

Second, sociological mindfulness provides us with an awareness of how other people are shaped by society.  And because we realize that others are impacted by these experiences we can appreciate each person's uniqueness.  This makes us more understanding and ultimately more empathetic and forgiving of others.

The third part of sociological mindfulness is being tuned into the idea that not only is each of us being influenced by society, but also that each of us is a participant in society.  We all affect the social world, even in little ways.  Each little act we do matters and has an effect on other people.  This aspect has a much longer explanation:

Sociological mindfulness is an awareness that we are being influenced by the world and so we can question that influence and hopefully guide it.  And it is an awareness that we are influencing others and hopefully it makes us question that influence so we can have the impact that we want on our world.  Sociological mindfulness is an awareness that society is dynamic and fluid and we are a part of that. In short, sociological mindfulness is the awareness that how we interact in the world matters!

Another way of thinking about sociological mindfulness is an exercise in Schwalbe's reading,

Think of the people you love and the kind of life you wish for them...I hope you will consider the possibility that mindfulness may be useful as a way to create better lives for more people.

What kind of life would you wish for those whom you love? How can you affect the world to be more like this way of life? Can you see how humans impact society? How can you make an impact that supports the world you want to live in? I think by answering these questions, students can begin to think with sociological mindfulness.

If you are still having a hard time grasping sociological mindfulness think about the past and all the ways individuals with sociological mindfulness have impacted our world: think about  Rosa Parks, Gandhi, Elenore Roosevelt, Desmond Tutu, Caesar Chavez, Einstein, Mother Theresa, Rabbi Heschel, and think about the movements like the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, the women's rights movement, the civil rights movement, the elimination of polio etc... Here is a link to 9 people who changed the world.  And here are 10 acts of courage that changed the world.  All of these people and movements are a product of those who had sociological mindfulness.  Think about Rosa Parks and realize that her actions changed the people on that bus and that changed the people of the city which changed our nation and that has influenced the world's view of human rights and the dignity of all human beings.  Our actions in day to day life, like where we sit on the bus and how we treat others can make a difference.   That awareness is sociological mindfulness.  In my personal life, it might be my parents sending me to college even though they themselves never went there and they didn't have the money.  My grandfather might have had sociological mindfulness when he came alone to America in 1916 at age 15.  He wanted a better life for his future and his family's future.  Both, my parents and my grandparents had an awareness that their choices mattered and that their choices affected the future.  So they made the best decision they could for my future based on that awareness.

The Starfish Parable is another way to think about being sociologically mindful

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, "I'm saving these starfish, Sir".
The old man chuckled aloud, "Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?"
The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, "It made a difference to that one!"

 We cannot change the world, but by being aware of how our actions affect those around us, we can make a difference for those who we do come into contact with us.

This reminds me of chaos theory which is a modern theory of science and math that events sometimes seem random but really they are part of a complex system.  Sometimes the butterfly effect is used an example - that the world is so connected and reliant on all processes that the wind from a butterfly flapping its wings in Mexico might contribute to a typhoon across the pacific in Japan.  This thinking applied to society might be considered sociological mindfulness.

Here is a Thai commercial, called "Unsung Hero" that promotes the idea of sociological mindfulness.

Applying the sociological mindfulness and imagination to Touchscreen

Watch slam poet Marshall Soulful Jones perform his poem called touchscreen.  Think about how he has a sociological imagination.  Here are the lyrics.



5.  Jones's Touchscreen can be an example of sociological mindfulness - how?


If you realize that people are influenced by living in this age of technology that is sociological imagination.  And if you question the influence of technology on you and make conscious choices about how to let it influence you, that is sociological mindfulness.

Here is a link to my post about all the research showing the effects of digital devices with special attention to an article from the Atlantic that highlights some of the consequences of the constant barrage of social media.

Applying Sociological Mindfulness to Teen-Parent conflicts

6.  How would you apply sociological mindfulness to Coontz's article, Teen-Parent Conflicts?


Sociological mindfulness and the Iraq War:  Ted Talk by Professor Sam Richards

Below is a Ted Talk by sociology professor Sam Richards that highlights sociological mindfulness from a "radical perspective".  Richards talks about radical empathy but this another way of saying sociological mindfulness.

For a further understanding of this idea, you click on the link to "sociological mindfulness" and see some of my posts about it.

Immunity, Community and the Sociological Imagination

HW: Be sure that you have read Sociological Mindfulness by Michael Schwalbe.

Applying Sociology:  The Sociological Imagination and Outliers


Please read the intro from Outliers.

Please answer the following questions on page 31 of your reading packet:

1. Describe life in Roseto.
2. What did Dr. Wolf set out to study originally?
3. What did he find instead?
4. Were the people aware of these effects? Explain.


In the book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell uses a sociological imagination to understand extreme success stories (aka Outliers). Using the introduction to understand sociology we see a few important ideas.
First, sociologists study how people are affected by their social groups. People are influenced by the groups they are a part of, whether it is family, a church, a town, etc. This often contradicts the idea that people are the sum total of their own individual genes and decisions. An important sociologist, C Wright Mills, calls this having a sociological imagination.   The "sociological imagination" is an important theme throughout our semester. The idea of the sociological imagination was developed by C. Wright Mills who said that having a sociological imagination helps one to see the connection between history and biography. That is, who we are (our biography) is determined by where and when we live (history).

Second, we see that sociologists do not simply make opinions or philosophical ideas, rather they make claims based on research and data.

Lastly, understanding sociology can change how we think about the world and who we are. For example, in this excerpt, one might change how he thinks about good health.

Do you see how the excerpt highlights these three ideas? 

The rest of Gladwell's book uses a sociological imagination to explain extreme success stories. For example, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs tremendous success and wealth stemming from the development of computers:

Gladwell describes how being born in the mid 1950s was particularly fortuitous for those interested in computer programming development (think Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, both born in 1955). It also helped to be geographically near what were then called supercomputers, the gigantic predecessors to the thing on which you’re reading this post. Back in the 1960s, when Gates and Jobs were coming of age, a supercomputer took up a whole room and was not something most youngsters would have had a chance to see, let alone work on. But because of their proximity to actual computers, both Gates and Jobs had a leg up on others their age and had the chance to spend hours and hours (10,000 of them in Gladwell’s estimation) learning about programming.

We can apply this model to more than just financial success. Think about what opportunities your own biography and history have afforded you. How has when, where, and to whom you were born shaped your life today?

The Outliers reading provides an example of how the people of Roseto were affected by where and when they live. Because they lived in the town of Roseto at that time, they lived in a way that affected them (without even knowing it) so that they had a much lower chance of getting heart disease and living longer than the rest of the country.  In sociological terms, understanding the effects of when and where people live is called a sociological imagination.

Applying Sociology: Sociological Imagination and School

Recall that a sociological imagination is understanding that an individual's experience is shaped by where and when they live.  If you have questions, please consult my post from yesterday and ask a student sitting near you.  Today, I want you to use data to use a sociological imagination to understand your own life better.  We will compare North Chicago to SHS/Lincolnshire.  North Chicago is just 10 miles northwest of SHS.

Use your sociological imagination to analyze the three data sources below.  Using your sociological imagination, create a hypothesis for each of the three data sources.  Be sure to cite data to support your hypothesis.

1. Compare high school data from Illinois High School Report Card Data here.  Use data from the link to hypothesize how you (and the opportunities presented to you) might be different if you were going to school in North Chicago as opposed to Stevenson.
If you have trouble accessing the website, here is 2018 data for SHS.
Here is 2018 data for North Chicago.

2. Compare the community data from CMAP.  Here are community snapshots for North Chicago and Lincolnshire.  Hypothesize how the data might shape your experience, opportunities, and challenges if you lived in North Chicago as opposed to Lincolnshire.

3. How might this data reveal that some of the private troubles of different students are really public issues:  First, brainstorm with your group, what might be the private troubles of these students?  Then use your soc imagination to think about how living in North Chicago instead of Lincolnshire might be part of the problem.

4. Please use a sociological imagination using this research from the Pew Research Center.  How might this help you understand your own life better?  Cite data.

Another exercise in sociological imagination and college is at this post.  It has some ways of both using data and exploring college and the sociological imagination.

Refer to Ferris & Stein (textbook) pgs. 9-13, 17 for more info.