C. Wright Mills and American Sociology.

This article challenges the standard depiction of C. Wright Mills as an academic outsider whose work bore little relation to the professional sociology of his time. By examining three of Mills?s engagements with sociological trends of the 1940s--methodological reflection in the sociology of knowledge, the turn to the study of total social structures, and the rise of bureau research--I establish that Mills?s ideas were in fact deeply indebted to the discourse of disciplinary sociology. Mills?s sociological approach shared certain elements in common with leading mid-century sociologists, such as Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton, and Paul Lazarsfeld, generally considered the antitheses of Mills. While stressing these similarities, I do not minimize the distinctive and radical nature of Mills?s sociological work, but rather suggest that Mills?s radicalism emerged in part through a deep and prolonged interaction with academic sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]