“Sociological imagination” is the concept developed by the American sociologist C. W. Mills (1959) which is the ability to think away from the familiar routine and finding its meaning and significance for the inner life (Mehan 2016). It is to step out of the individual experiences and aspire for the “bigger picture”. To understand globalization from a sociological imagination perspective requires us to look into the different issues related to it. For example, the issue of cosmopolitanism is an important aspect of globalization and it is more important to understand the nuances of cosmopolitanism in personal as well as the societal perspective. It is the purpose of the essay to look into the issue of cosmopolitanism at an individual level as well as at the societal level and analyses it from the sociological imagination perspective.
According to Beck (2017), cosmopolitanism is the global phenomenon where people and institutions are compressed to one world and emerging as a global society. Cosmopolitanism is the outcome of the process of globalization. It is the cross-cultural and cross-national harmony, which is also known as “normative cosmopolitanism”. It is the development of a single entity with multiple diversity. In order to understand cosmopolitanism from a sociological imagination perspective, it is important to understand the consequences and the intricacies attached to it. Cosmopolitanism leads to changes in lives of people in terms of the development of composite culture and global identity(Tartaglia 2015).it is important to understand how cosmopolitanism is affecting people at the individual and the societal level. For example, cosmopolitanism leads to the growth of a composite culture in the cultural realm of an individual (Golz 2016). On the other hand, there is a growth of global governance, world democracy and trans-national organization (Golz 2016).Cosmopolitanism has two faces ; one is political or the global and the other is cultural that is personal at the individual level. In the cultural dimension side, there is a development of urban culture, fashion, lifestyle, a cuisine that are not local rather “global”. This is the amalgamation of the global with the local culture. At the individual level, people coming from different cultural backgrounds develop a composite culture. According to Pieterse (2015), this composite culture is making the world “smaller” by bringing people from diverse cultural backgrounds in one place. Cosmopolitanism is developing a kind of mixed cultures, which is reflected in the lifestyles, and food habits they have adopted. For example, people have been addicted to McDonald’s, Coca Cola etc. and deviated from their own regional cuisines. This has a two-fold effect on people’s life. People experience the taste of global cuisine and this acts a medium to connect people and develop a bond among them. It is developing hybridization at the global level (Pieterse 2015).
While in earlier societies food was essentially attached to cultural identity, in the 21st century, one particular culture experiences multiplicity of food items. It is not considered a marker of cultural identity because there are additions and omissions to the cultural food habit of the people (Boutaud et al. 2016). For example, the Mcdonalization, the term developed by George Ritzer refers to the development and spread of McDonald made food all over the world (Mcdonaldization.com, 2018). It has radically changed people’s food habit and developed a new kind of eating habit. However, there is a growing concern for obesity-related issues. This is also becoming a public issue and a global problem. The issue of obesity is linked to the higher consumption of junk foods even though it is acting as a medium for social cohesion (Molz 2016).
Cosmopolitanism also contributes to developing a single common identity with a shared morality. Sociologist Emile Durkheim mentions the development of “cult of the individual” which is the development of a new religion that would make primordial identities and relationship changes (Tiryakian 2016). This is a result of the process of globalization, which not only creates a single identity, it also develop what is known as the “glocal identity”. This refers to the ideas of a composite identity of global and local derived out of the global identity and the local identity. There are the concept of global citizens in the 21st century. As part of the cosmopolitan culture, people are developing an identity, which has its traditional roots as well the global connectivity. As a result, the traditional distinctions are blurred, regional identities based on territorial integrity and nationalism are being sandwiched under the challenges posed by the supranational authority (Taraglia et al. 2015). At the individual level, this is helping in building up a common language, predominantly English and a global identity. However, at the greater level this impact of cosmopolitanism is regenerating people’s feeling in strengthening nationalism among people. For example, there are social movements emerging in different parts of Europe towards establishing their own language and identity at the global front (Taraglia et al. 2015). The Catalonian movement in Canada is an example of this emerging nationalist orientation of people due to globalization led cosmopolitan culture. It is a parallel movement where on the one hand there is the growing impact of globalization on the other there is a reaffirmation of different cultural identities. This cultural homogenization has acted both ways, a threat to the local culture and regeneration of local and national feeling.
Cosmopolitanism orientation helps people develop a shared understanding of the global social and environmental problems. This cosmopolitan orientation generates a sense of obligation towards the problem of the environment and the issue affecting them. This acts in a two-way method. It creates concern for the people at the individual level and creates concern for the society as a whole (Leung et al. 2015). This results in creating institutions, NGO’s. For example, as individual people are impacted with the global issues like global warming, increasing water level, high temperature and climate cycle being damaged. These factors affect people and their life on a day-to-day basis. However, people being a part of the cosmopolitan world are concerned over these issues with the unity and integrity of action. It works as a framework for global interconnectedness in solving the environmental crisis. At the individual level, people enjoy all the benefits brought by the hyperconnectivity on the other hand; the global issues that are bothering them are sensitizing them. The loss of non-renewable energy and agricultural degradation is a problem that is an issue for both people at the individual level and for the global societies it is giving them exposure to the global environmental technologies and innovations. As a result, the cosmopolitan citizens are taking an effective step to make the planet greener and many countries have also gone for adopting greener products as a result of the growing consciousness among people. A sociological imagination perspective would discuss this as a growing knowledge among people about their environment and related issues and links the personal issue with the historical context. People’s recognition of the problems as part of the larger goal actually help them to relate to the bigger picture. For example, there are international organizations who are discussing the issues of environmental degradation, global warming and protection of nature. An international forum like the UNFCCC (The United Nations Framework Convention for climate change). This global platform binds the countries together towards a shared objective and same goal (Unfccc.int, 2018).
Similarly, a cosmopolitan citizen is a conscious individual who has been able to identify their immediate concerns of human rights issues and their violation, as they are able to get the global exposure because of globalization. This cosmopolitan exposure of people to the world generated the consciousness among them about the violation of human rights that it is not exclusive to any particular territory of the world. Rather this violation at the individual level is actually not a personal problem, which is also a global issue. This has led to the growth of the International human rights norms, which is an integrated approach of the people to fight for the cause (Donnelly et al. 2017). In this manner human rights violation no more remained an individual problem rather a public issue and a global phenomenon. The Amnesty International or the Human Rights Watch are the manifestations of people’s consciousness at the global level (Amnesty.org, 2018). The motive behind this institution is to fight the cause of human rights violation as a unified effort in an international level because human rights violations and human rights movement are not personal or regional issues rather they are global issues (Nicholson et al. 2018). The sociological imagination perspective would explain this issue within its historical perspective. From this understanding, an example could be taken. The women’s rights movement was a global phenomenon that started at the personal individual level. There is a large-scale violation of women’s rights and suppression of women at the society, which has generated consciousness among women. Women all around the world realized that their personal difficulties and issues are not isolated rather it is a part of the greater social arrangements and the ongoing Women’s movement (Peters and Wolper 2018).
However, analyzing the issue of cosmopolitanism from the sociological perspective faces certain limitations. Even though this particular perspective acts as a connector between psychology and sociology, every social context changes according to the nature of society. When an issue is being understood in the broader context of the society, it should be kept in mind that not all the contexts are same. For example, when the issues of an individual violation of human rights are attached and linked to the global perspective, it is to be noted that both the context, situation and condition of people facing such problem is not same rather they are unique in all sense. It gives them a negative understanding of the problem because every issue arising at the individual level should have its objective and subjective realities. One can have a detailed understanding of the problem only when one understands the problem within the context of its own social context and condition. The social condition need not necessarily be same to have the same kinds of experience. Hence, understanding the social context gives an impression of the objective reality of the issue. A sociological perspective might present a blurry image of the individual issue because it tends to link all the issues with the global phenomenon. However, this should be done by incorporating the idea that objective reality does exist (Bardhan et al. 2015). On the other hand, the subjective reality helps to understand the origin of the problem and how it actually a problem. It is not important for understanding the objective reality of the problem.
However, understanding cosmopolitanism from the sociological perspective imagination has helped in understanding the issues within a broader perspective. Cosmopolitanism from a sociological imagination perspective helps to understand that the issues emerging out of the cosmopolitan life are not diffracted issues rather they are placed within the larger context. The cosmopolitan citizen faces issues of common single identity; if this particular situation is placed within the greater context then people will start associating them within the global identity. Here people might distance themselves from their original identity and adopt a single common identity
Conclusion:
The importance of understanding an issue from the sociological imagination perspective is crucial because it explains that any individual incident in the context of the historical context and larger social arrangements. It suggests that individual problems are not to be understood in isolation rather at an integrated level by linking it to global issues. It is the awareness of the experience of the individual with the wider society. It is an important tool for the researchers to find about different social phenomena and determine the meaning of the issue to the social community and individual being. Moreover, cosmopolitanism is an issue that has a wider implication and could only be understood within the wider perspective. The nuances of cosmopolitan life and problems associated with it are global as well as local. It is the connecting link between the people and the society, which enlightens them that their inner life has a connection with their external world. The lack of a sociological understanding makes people believe in the narrow confines of their own world.
References:
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