C. Wright Mills is best remembered for his highly acclaimed work The Sociological Imagination, in which he set forth his views on how social science should be pursued. Hailed upon publication as a cogent and hard-hitting critique, The Sociological Imagination took issue with the ascendant schools of sociology in the United States, calling for a humanist sociology connecting the social, personal, and historical dimensions of our lives. The sociological imagination Mills calls for is a sociological vision, a way of looking at the world that can see links between the apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues.

First published in 1956, The Power Elite stands as a contemporary classic of social science and social criticism. C. Wright Mills examines and critiques the organization of power in the United States, calling attention to three firmly interlocked prongs of power: the military, corporate, and political elite. The Power Elite can be read as a good account of what was taking place in America at the time it was written, but its underlying question of whether America is as democratic in practice as it is in theory continues to matter very much today.

What The Power Elite informed readers of in 1956 was how much the organization of power in America had changed during their lifetimes, and Alan Wolfe's astute afterword to this new edition brings us up to date, illustrating how much more has changed since then. Wolfe sorts out what is helpful in Mills' book and which of his predictions have not come to bear, laying out the radical changes in American capitalism, from intense global competition and the collapse of communism to rapid technological transformations and ever changing consumer tastes. The Power Elite has stimulated generations of readers to think about the kind of society they have and the kind of society they might want, and deserves to be read by every new generation.

C. Wright Mills' incisive analysis of the American white-collar worker is a classic of sociology, the author's ideas and terms making a lasting effect on sociological enquiry and popular consciousness.

Writing in 1950, most of Mills' study concerns the first half of the 20^th century; the trends underpinning a change in workplace culture, such as increasing urban populations and workers in the services industry. This new class of worker was invariably based in some form of office, wearing formal white buttoned shirts - hence, white-collar workers. The culture and behaviors of these workers are described, how many are part of an expanding bureaucracy, and have new standards of prestige and consumption.

For the first time, phenomena such as the career woman and the worker employed chiefly for charisma or personality is observed. While previously a rare curiosity, both sexes striving for success and recognition in urban careers underpins the overall culture. Mills also contrasts white-collar culture as consisting mostly of mental rather than physical labor. The sector in general is shown as reluctant to unionize; partly this is due to unions being unavailable, and partly it is a sense held by white-collar workers that their life situation differs from factory or other manual labor.

When C. Wright Mills published The New Men of Power in 1948, he
thought labor leaders a new strategic elite and the unions a set of vanguard organizations that were crucial to stopping the main drift towards war and slump. Today, as the unions once again seek to play a decisive role in American life, Mills' remarkable probe into the structure and ideology of mid-twentieth-century trade unionism remains essential reading. A new introduction by historian Nelson Lichtenstein offers insight into the Millsian political world at the time he wrote The New Men of Power.

One of the leading public intellectuals of twentieth-century America and a pioneering and brilliant social scientist, C. Wright Mills left a legacy of interdisciplinary and hard-hitting work including two books that changed the way many people viewed their lives and the structure of power in the United States: White Collar (1951) and The Power Elite (1956). Mills persistently challenged the status quo within his profession--as in The Sociological Imagination (1959)--and within his country, until his untimely death in 1962. This collection of letters and writings, edited by his daughters, allows readers to see behind Mills's public persona for the first time.

Mills's letters to prominent figures--including Saul Alinsky, Daniel Bell, Lewis Coser, Carlos Fuentes, Hans Gerth, Irving Howe, Dwight MacDonald, Robert K. Merton, Ralph Miliband, William Miller, David Riesman, and Harvey Swados--are joined by his letters to family members, letter-essays to an imaginary friend in Russia, personal narratives by his daughters, and annotations drawing on published and unpublished material, including the FBI file on Mills.

In print for fifty years, White Collar by C. Wright Mills is considered a standard on the subject of the new middle class in twentieth-century America. This landmark volume demonstrates how the conditions and styles of middle class life--originating from elements of both the newer lower and upper classes--represent modern society as a whole.
By examining white-collar life, Mills aimed to learn something about what was becoming more typically American than the once-famous Western frontier character. He painted a picture instead of a society that had evolved into a business-based milieu, viewing America instead as a great salesroom, an enormous file, and a new universe of management.
Russell Jacoby, author of The End of Utopia and The Last Intellectuals, contributes a new Afterword to this edition, in which he reflects on the impact White Collar had at its original publication and considers what it means to our society today.
A book that persons of every level of the white collar pyramid should read and ponder. It will alert them to their condition for their better salvation.-Horace M. Kaellen, The New York Times (on the first edition)

Soziologische Phantasie, die erstmals 1963 erschienene deutsche bersetzung von C. Wright Mills' The Sociological Imagination, darf zurecht als Meilenstein wissenschaftlich-politischer Debatten in den Vereinigten Staaten betrachtet werden und z hlt auch heute noch zu einer der wichtigsten Selbstkritiken der Soziologie. Mills schl gt hier einen dritten Weg zwischen blo em Empirismus und abgehobener Theorie ein: Er pl diert f r eine kritische Sozialwissenschaft, die sich weder b rokratisch instrumentalisieren l sst noch selbstverliebt vor sich hin prozessiert, sondern gesellschaftliche Bedeutung erlangt, indem sie den Zusammenhang von pers nlichen Schwierigkeiten und ffentlichen Problemen erhellt. Eben dies sei Aufgabe und Verhei ung einer Soziologie, die sich viel zu h ufig einer merkw rdigen Lust an der Attit de des Unbeteiligten hingebe.

C. Wright Mills was a radical public intellectual, a tough-talking, motorcycle-riding anarchist from Texas who taught sociology at Columbia University. Mills's three most influential books--The Power Elite, White Collar, and The Sociological Imagination--were originally published by OUP and are considered classics. The first collection of his writings to be published since 1963, The Politics of Truth contains 23 out-of-print and hard-to-find writings which show his growth from academic sociologist to an intellectual maestro in command of a mature style, a dissenter who sought to inspire the public to oppose the drift toward permanent war. Given the political deceptions of recent years, Mills's truth-telling is more relevant than ever. Seminal papers including Letter to the New Left appear alongside lesser known meditations such as Are We Losing Our Sense of Belonging? John Summers provides fresh insights in his introduction, which gives an overview of Mills's life and career. Summers has also written annotations that establish each piece's context and has drawn up a comprehensive bibliography of Mills's published and unpublished writings.