Charles Wright Mills: Life and Contributions to Sociology

Early Life and Education

• Born: August 28, 1916, in Waco, Texas.
• Parents: Charles Grover Mills and Francis Ursula Wright.
• High School: Graduated from Dallas Technical High School in 1934.
• University of Texas at Austin: Studied philosophy, sociology, cultural anthropology, social psychology, and economics.
• University of Wisconsin at Madison: Attended in 1939, received PhD in 1945.

Academic Career

• Columbia University:
  • Research associate at the Bureau of Applied Social Research.
  • Became an assistant professor in the sociology department.

Major Works and Theories

• Books:
  1. The New Men of Power
  2. White Collar
  3. The Power Elite
  4. The Sociological Imagination

Theories on Social Classes

• Class Division:
  • Believed America was divided into three classes, with the upper class controlling power.
  • Upper class regarded as the only significant societal group, overshadowing the opinions of other classes.

The Power Elite

• Upper Class Leadership:

  • Led by military, political, and economic leaders.
  • These leaders are seen as separate and superior to the rest of society.

• Political Influence:

  • Highlighted the role of super political action committees (super PACs) in influencing elections.
  • Discussed the power dynamics of media advertising in political campaigns.

The Sociological Imagination

• Focus:
  • Shifted focus from power structures to the relationship between personal issues and social issues.
  • Encourages understanding of personal experiences in the context of larger social forces.

Personal Life

• Marriages and Children: Three wives, with one child from each marriage.
• Death: Suffered a heart attack and died on March 20, 1962, at age 45.

Legacy

• Influence: Mills' theories continue to be a significant study subject among sociologists today.