米爾士的「社會學想像」是一個重新界家社會學知識的社會角色與操作方式的努力，直接批判的對象是五○年代美國的主流現代化意識形態以及受意識形態支配的社會學理論與研究。在全球化的年代中，社會學想像更是讓社會學直接面對激進民主的議題。社會學想像呼籲社會學家摒棄科層制下的知識分工角色，進而成為具有主體性的知識工匠，直接肩負啟蒙知識份子的批判性工作，維繫啟蒙傳統下的理性與自由的內在關係。米爾士認為在「後現代」狀況下，這二者的關係已經消失，連帶地產生了「快樂機器人」的現象。社會學想像即是一種民主馬托邦的理念付諸實際，重新培養民主社會中必要的積極主體性。因此，社會學想像是站在現代性立場批判現代化的意識形態，這和傳統主義、法西斯主義、以及保守後現代主義及文化研究是有重大差異的。最後，本文呼籲在新自由主義──一種比五○年代自由派共更極端的現代化意識形態──當令的今天，社會學想像更應重新被賦予新的批判的活力，對新的問題提出發言，對新浮現的結構提出分析。

　　　　　Sociological Imagination, a term coined by C.Wright Mills in the late 50s, is an attempt to redefine the social role and modus operandi of sociology or social science in general. It is a head-on confronatation with the post-WWII mainstream social science shaped by the ideology of modernization. In meeting the challenge posed by neo-liberal globalization, sociological imagination is especially relevant to the critical prospect of radical democracy. Challenging the prevailing dichotomy between the Method and the Theory, Sociological Imagination brings real and significant problems to the forefront. For Mills, significant problematics come initially from personally experienced troubles. But only through the knowledge of social structure can we transform personal troubles into public issues. And this transformation requires the intervention of sociological imagination. Therefore, the idea of sociological imagination is an appeal to sociologists to forsake their role of machine intellectual under fragmented bureaucratic knowledge production, and to become intellectual craftsmen, the latter assume the critical task of enlightenment intellectuals. Mills believe that, in the "post-modern" condition, the link between reason and freedom has been broken, and as a consequence, the "happy robot" phenomenon emerged. Sociological imagination is to realize the democratic potential inherent in modernity by empowering the subject as a subject of inquiry. To uphold the status of reason in contemporary life is what distinguishes sociological imagination from other strands of counter-modernity, such as traditionalism, fascism, communitarianism, and postmodernism. In the last section of this paper, sociological imagination is expected to update its critical potentiality in facing the challenge of contemporary ideology of modernization-the free-market neo-liberal globalization.