The Sociological Imagination and Intersectionality

The Sociological Imagination and Intersectionality

This assignment will allow you to use C. Wright Mills’s sociological imagination and Kimberle Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality to analyze to the life of an individual vis-à-vis systems of institutionalized power.

The individual can be either you (fully or semi-biographical), someone you care about—a family member, close friend or colleague (with their permission), or a hypothetical person.  

Develop the protagonist. Identify where they fall on several of the main axes of identity that map to privilege/disadvantage. Discuss some of the ways those particular placements are likely to affect/shape your protagonist’s life outcomes. This is where biography meets history in the sociological imagination. Engage generously with texts and other course materials to support your arguments about how access to scarce resources is affected by institutionalized patterns

Cover a minimum of 4 forms of inequality—three of which must be race/ethnicity, class, and gender. The 4th can be sexuality, documentation status, (dis)ability, religion, or a major axis approved by the instructor.

The essay should use evidence/examples from course readings throughout to illustrate patterns in access to resources (or lack thereof) among several of the social identities of the protagonist.

Be sure to cite and discuss a minimum of 5 reading selections and to include citations to and discussion of at least 2 films or lectures (for a total of 7 sources cited in the essay). Note: failure to meet minimum citation requirements will profoundly affect your grade, and may result in a failing grade for the exam. Furthermore, please be specific in your citations to course materials—clearly identifying the source of information you use in your essays—whether it is an author, a film, or lecture.