Mills, C. Wright (1916–1962)

C. Wright Mills was a social theorist who is best known for his important contributions to the sociology of power and the theories of social inequality and social organization. Committed to the critical understanding of modern capitalist societies, Mills was against the sort of intellectualism that, in the name of axiological neutrality, distances itself from political life. Yet he was not a blind ideologue. He was remarkably able to balance his anger with his analytical perception to scrutinize basic social relationships. Mills was also critical of social inquiry that falls into the dual trap of what he calls “grand theory” or “abstracted empiricism.” Whereas grand theorists spell out near-metaphysical concepts that are devoid of either social and political significance or heuristic value to social inquiry, abstracted empiricists, with their fetish for method, do not provide a theoretically nuanced view of the social world.

Mills was born in 1916, in Waco, Texas, graduated with a BS in philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin in 1939, and then pursued his graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After getting his PhD in sociology, he spent five years as assistant professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, and then worked at Columbia University until his death in 1962 as a result of heart attack.

Mills was a prolific writer. During his relatively short lifespan, he published 12 books, 200 scholarly papers, and numerous articles meant for public consumption. Perhaps Mills is best known for his book The Sociological Imagination (1959), a classic where he outlined the principles of social inquiry as a craft. His other important works include The New Men of Power, White Collar, Listen Yankee: The Revolution in Cuba, and Character and Social Structure (with Hans Gerth). Mills's lasting contribution lies in his study of power, which went through three major phases, culminating in the publication of his 1956 opus, The Power Elite.

The New Men of Power was Mills's first serious work on power, primarily focusing on labor leaders. In this work, Mills challenges the Marxist political paradigm that the working class is a universal class destined to free both itself and society at large. Nor does Mills see its leaders as capable of working along with Marx's envisioned future. Because they are trapped by the constraints of bureaucratic organization, labor leaders hardly followed the paths of bringing about a well-ordered society. In labor leaders, Mills saw no political philosophy that fundamentally challenges the social system. They are focused on slight changes in the system that would allow workers to get part of the “economic pie.” What is more, the internal dynamics of organized labor are antithetical to social justice. Not only is bossism rampant, but labor leaders have miserably failed to alter the political habitus of workers. No serious attempt is made in preparing them for a war of position (to use Gramsci's term). Moreover, in spite of their focus on projective framing, labor leaders lack vision regarding the nature of the future society. Instead, the underlying assumption of their political imagination is based on emulating the lifestyle of the classes above them, rather than challenging the system in order to bring about a lasting solution. Their political [Page 422]actions are further hampered by a pluralist assumption that power is equally distributed in the United States.

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