Charles Lemert

“The sociological imagination refers to the ability of some to learn—often with good luck or coaching or perhaps with formal schooling—to realize that, just as often, one’s personal troubles are in fact public issues.”
― Charles Lemert, Social Things: An Introduction to the Sociological Life

“Social theory...is about the mundane and the concealed - those hidden aspects of social life we sometimes encounter in the ordinary course of daily life. We don't always see them, thus we aren't always in a position to speak of them, for at least the following reasons: (1) The powers-that-be want them concealed. (2) Either the empowered or the weak may resist talking about them because they are too threatening. Or (3) people need time and experience to learn how put into words the reality they live with (but not everyone has the time to do this). Social theories don't just occur to us. Some we never get. Others come in time. Some we have to work to get at. But they are there to be known and said.

It could therefore be said that an individual survives in society to the extent he or she can say plausibly coherent things about that society. Our ability to endure, and on occasion to enjoy, the worlds of irrational lunch-line rules, of crack wars in the hallways, of clean airplane restrooms and much more depends on our knowing something about why things are as they are. And we only know such things well enough when we can talk about them.”
― Charles Lemert, Social Theory: The Multicultural, Global, and Classic Readings