Imaginative sociology
Serendipitous associations and sideways glances
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22274365 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eduardo De La Fuente (0000-0002-9129-4969, University of South Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 71-92 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Dialogues in sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2976-8667 • E-ISSN: 2976-8667 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/29768667251387206 |
| OpenAlex | W4415549064 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 18 |
Combining the personal and academic ‘voice’, this article reflects on the value of serendipitous associations and unplanned images in doing sociological work. One of the central research artefacts discussed is an image generated during an evening of sociability of an urban stairway made from a regionally specific rock known as Sydney sandstone. The accidental nature of the image is used to reflect on a series of issues: to what extent is research planned and unplanned? Why do images serve to illuminate social life? The article proposes that alongside Mills' famed sociological imagination, we need an imaginative sociology , and considers whether Mills may have meant as much when he referred to sociology as a craft. The latter might embrace playfulness and reverie, and employ ‘visual hapticity’ and ‘peripheral perception’ to broaden the sociological ‘gaze’. I conclude by observing that developing a feel for one's craft, like life itself, is an ongoing process
Accidental · Evening · Social life · Sociological research · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Management and Organizational Studies · Social and Cultural Dynamics
Surrender and Catch
The Media City
Living in a Textured World
The Art of Social Theory
Masters of Craft
Reassembling the Social
Being Alive
Who counts, and is counted, in craft
C. Wright Mills
Processual Sociology
The Ecology of Images
Atmosphere as the Fundamental Concept of a New Aesthetics
Atmospheric Attunements
A Manifesto for Live Methods
After the cultural turn
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |