TEACHSOC: Escape from sociology The full picture

[Del Thomas Ph. D.]

A question.  There have been several posts suggesting that sociology only presents the negative, the depressing.  It appears that we are set upon shocking our students and showing them the truth about the world they live in.  Sometimes the perfect is allowed to be the enemy of the good.  One of our colleagues teaching in what they considered a conservative area sees there job as telling ".....students that I am a missionary sent here by the forces of reason to drag the population, kicking and screaming, into the 21st Century" However, over the years when I have asked the list for examples of break through in sociology the list has been silent.  So much for bringing anyone into the 21st century. Perhaps a prime example of this narrow negative vision is found in the sociological imagination.  SI claims that personal troubles/problems are linked to social structure.  Or in his own words SI is "By such means the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues." True to its parent Social Darwinism as C W Mills states," It is characteristic of Herbert Spencer - turgid, polysyllabic, comprehensive;" My question is, are only personal/psychological troubles/uneasiness linked to public issues/social structure?  What about personal victories, achievements or glories? Durkheim advises, "To this we  reply that, by revealing the causes of phenomena, science furnishes  the means of producing them." (Durkheim, 1964, p48).  As an applied sociologist I am interested in using social technologies in producing victories, and achievements not uneasiness and troubles.  Given the variety of classroom troubles reported on the list, tardiness, not working, anger etc.  perhaps we should focus on the science of sociology and go beyond the negative. Del