The Sociological Imagination

‘The first fruit of this imagination―and the first lesson of the social science that embodies it is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in his circumstances.’

C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination (1959)

This is precisely why Prof. Tony Tam came to see, in the style of Max Weber, sociology as a vocation. Originally planning to be a physicist, he was increasingly fascinated by the study of society after exposure to the history of civilization, philosophy and social science in his matriculation years. Despite getting a distinction in physics and mathematics in the CUHK entrance examination, he followed his new-found passion and majored in sociology.

‘I was admitted to the university in 1978, when the chaos brought about by the Cultural Revolution was finally coming to an end and social stability was gradually restored. As China began its 40-year economic reform, there was a quietude all of a sudden and society as a whole lost its sense of direction,’ said Professor Tam in an interview with the Chung Chi Campus Newsletter.

It was against this background that Professor Tam became interested in the study of people and society as he recalled in the interview. When choosing his major subject in university, he began to wonder, ‘Which subjects would allow me to understand society?’ After some research, he was certain that sociology is, in his own words, ‘the most extensive and unrestricted subject in social science’.

As someone having years of research and teaching experience at some of the world’s most prestigious universities, Professor Tam highlighted three aspects of sociology that prospective students should know, the first of which is how it has evolved over the years.

Sociology emerged a century ago as an academic discipline addressing the major transformations in European societies. It was a product of its time and its exceptional circumstances. Nowadays, though, sociology has extended to encompass all social changes, all social processes, all social groups and all societies. Prof. Tong Yuying’s research of internal migration in China is a good case in point.

‘I often wonder what would’ve happened to myself if I hadn’t gone to college,’ said Professor Tong in an interview with the CUHK Newsletter, reflecting on her own experience growing up in a village in rural China. ‘I am interested in migrants’ life opportunities and their well-being.’

Many of her schoolmates became rural-to-urban migrants. This experience inspired Professor Tong to turn her attention to the study of internal migration in China, focusing recently on how it affects the psychological well-being of the migrants’ spouses and on the livelihood strategies of these spouses left behind in rural areas.

‘To the wife left behind, being the master of the household in the absence of her husband may be more a burden than a blessing since she has to bear greater responsibilities. She may have more autonomy, but that autonomy is often a source of distress in a cash-strapped family,’ said Professor Tong in the interview. ‘Without true gender equality, it is difficult for women to reap the benefits of having more power.’ She hopes that her research will contribute to better policies in the future.

The second aspect of sociology Professor Tam highlighted is that it is an excellent way of preparing for interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary graduate study as well as advanced research in social science. Ranked 39th in the 2020 QS World University Rankings by Subject (Sociology), the Department of Sociology at CUHK provides students with rigorous methodological training and exposure to research at the frontiers of a diverse range of subfields of sociology.

To help students build a successful career after graduation, the Department offers three concentration options, from which students can choose a maximum of two:

• Sociology and Social Policy
• Social Research
• Sociology and Liberal Studies

Kelvin Lam is a recent graduate of the CUHK sociology programme. Now pursuing an MPhil degree with a focus on local asylum seekers in the global refugee crisis, he touches on his work in a contribution to the Department’s graduate student newsletter:

‘To understand how they deal with their problems, I conducted research into their coping strategies with my supervisor Prof. Sara Zhong. Having interviewed some of them, we recognize the importance of their social capital: with their monetary resources depleted, most of our interviewees relied heavily on weak ties established by chance to access social support.’

Sociology may help us make sense of the current pandemic too. In his contribution to the newsletter, PhD candidate Francisco Olivos explains how he would treat it as what scholars would call a ‘complex system’.

Professor Tam also noted a third feature of sociology. Commenting specifically on studying sociology at CUHK, he said, ‘This is the place where frontier research meets a rich tradition of local social research.’ The Department was a pioneer in the scientific study of Hong Kong society, having launched the Social Research Centre in 1969. It also contributed actively to the rebuilding of sociology as an academic discipline in modern China.

Meanwhile, the Department has been dedicated to strengthening its connections with universities around the globe. Apart from running exchange programmes with the University of Kent and the University of Warwick, it has also started to offer top students research internship opportunities at Princeton University under the Distinguished Overseas Internship Programme.

‘The sociological imagination,’ writes Mills in his book of the same name, ‘enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise.’ Are you ready to start your sociological imagination?

Last Updated: Summer 2020