Social construction and social imagination enable people to understand how experiences shape their realities and how to view their lives respectively. At the heart of the two concepts is the ability and desire to ensure that individuals develop a keen understanding of themselves and how the society affects them. Case in point, sociologists use social imagination to explain that some problems people encounter are not unique to them alone and that many others in the community also face them, for instance, unemployment. For that reason, contrary to some people’s view, unemployment may be understood as a social problem that stems from the society, as opposed to a personal trouble. In a similar vein, theorists use social construction theory to elucidate how people’s experiences in life shape their realities. Emphasising social imagination and social construction allows people to understand unemployment as a public issue because it affects many people in the society.
Social Imagination
The unemployment of many people in the Australian society is a social problem because it indicates an unavailability of enough job opportunities in the labour market. In other words, although the unemployed persons may have attained the required level of education or gained relevant skills to allow them to work in different sectors, the number of available opportunities is not adequate to meet the demand. For that reason, a person’s inability to secure a job in any of the country’s industries is not due to personal factors, including laziness, but rather because of other factors that affect other people, for instance, slow economic growth. Therefore, as Ossewaarde (2014 p. 164) observes, an employed individual ought not to focus on oneself alone, but rather examine the broader landscape of the society. This may include considering the nation’s economic institutions and government’s policies with the aim of finding lasting solutions to the unemployment problem.
A person may apply the concept of social imagination to present the argument that the unemployment problem in the Australian society is not unique to one individual since there are many others who are encountering it. As Mills (2000) notes, the fact that unemployment affects different people in the country qualifies it as a social problem. Viewing joblessness as a public issue enables a person to cease considering oneself as a failure or think that one does not work or try hard enough to secure a job. This point of view, therefore, allows an individual not to feel discouraged or defeated since one understands that other people in the community face the same problem. Although a person may argue that the concept denies an unemployed individual the opportunity to improve oneself to ensure that one secures a job, it enables one to consider relevant factors in the wider society to explore the causes and possible solutions to one’s problems.
Massive loss of jobs due to company or industry shutdowns in Australia explains unemployment as a social problem rather than an individual issue. As an illustration, according to media reports, Toyota closed its engine and car factory in the country in 2017, rendering many people jobless (Dowling 2017). Without a doubt, the people who lost their jobs encountered the challenge as a result of a wider problem in the car sector as opposed to their personal fault. For this reason, anybody who was laid off due to the collapse of the Australian company should understand one’s situation as a problem that affects many other workers. Although persons may be unemployed due to personal reasons, including lack of excellent work ethics or laziness, a structural explanation emphasising industrial factors is required to elucidate why many individuals are out of work. From this point of view, therefore, the issue of unemployment can be understood as a social problem and not as a personal concern.
Possible underspending on infrastructure by the public or private sector during hard economic periods may force people with skills, for instance, engineering to leave the country in an attempt to secure job opportunities. In the same way, the trend may render local labourers jobless since their employers may sack them due to unavailability of work. According to Sojoodi, Zonuzi, and Nia (2012 p. 3), infrastructure development enables a country to create jobs and spur growth. For this reason, underspending on infrastructure adversely affects many people’s ability to secure job opportunities. Although a person may be hardworking or accentuate good work ethics, the situation may force one to be unemployed. This suggests that while every individual has one’s biography, one is influenced by the prevailing social structure. Therefore, the unemployment problem goes beyond a person’s control to incorporate a large public issue that requires the collaboration between various stakeholders, including the government, the private sector and the citizens to resolve. As a consequence, focusing on the unemployment from this perspective enables one to view it as a social issue as opposed to an individual problem.
Social Construction
A person who subscribes to the theory of social construction may hold the view that unemployment in Australia is a public issue because one believes that it is the responsibility of the government to implement relevant policies or provide an enabling environment to do business, which creates job opportunities for many people. According to Andrews (2012), the concept of social construction implies that people’s experiences shape their realities. In this context, therefore, a person who is born in Australia, and who believes that the administration plays an instrumental role in promoting employment among its citizen may view the issue as a social problem because one believes that the government ought to ensure that its people are capable of securing job opportunities, for instance, through policy implementation. The belief may motivate people to obtain the necessary education or enhance their skills to enable them to work in various sectors in the country. Therefore, the simple belief that the government and the private sector promote employment makes people understand lack of jobs not as a personal issue, but rather as a social problem.
Differences in social class in the Australian society may shape people’s views regarding unemployment. Rich persons, in particular, those who own means of production live abundantly because they are able to provide everything they require. On the contrary, people in the low class may endure sufferings due to poverty or unemployment. Although wealthy individuals may hold the view that unemployment is a personal problem because they are able to employ themselves, poor people may believe that their unemployment status is due to their inability to possess land or property. Consistent research reveals that unemployment results in a social identity that leads to stigma, which then causes psychological health problems (O’Donnell, Corrigan " Gallagher 2015 p. 2). If, for instance, many people in a certain Australian region are unemployed, they may not only be unable to provide for themselves and their families but also suffer psychologically, hence affecting other aspects of their lives. In this context, therefore, the issue of unemployment goes beyond personal trouble to be understood as a social problem because its consequences may adversely affect many people in a society in more than one way.
Unemployment in Australia
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2018) states that the country’s unemployment rate stood at 5.6% in March 2018, indicating that many people are unable to secure jobs. As Guimaraes et al. (2010 p. 10) assert, it is important to distinguish unemployment from employment or inactivity because whereas employment and inactivity imply a social status, unemployment refers to a problematic state of affairs that an affected person desires to address. Based on the statistics, one may argue that although an individual may be unemployed due to personal reasons, for instance, failure to work hard, the problem may be influenced by other factors in the society, primarily due to the significant number of people affected. One can apply social imagination concept to explain the issue by arguing that whereas unemployment may be an individual problem, it may possibly stem from different prevailing aspects of the Australian society. In the same way, one may apply the social construction theory to understand unemployment as a public issue because of existing differences regarding the way people’s interactions and experiences shape their realities.
To conclude, people ought to accentuate using social imagination and social construction concepts to allow them to understand unemployment as a social problem since it affects many people in the society. Although many persons in the Australian society may lack the ability to attain success, it is imperative for the government and other stakeholders to establish the major causes of unemployment, including ineffective political solutions, industry shutdowns or discrimination of particular working groups. Since no one individual can find lasting solutions to these problems, it is prudent for the entire Australian society to apply sociological imagination to understand that some issues do not occur due to a personal fault but rather because of some influences in the society. Besides, people ought to apply social construction theory to shape their realities by viewing unemployment as an issue that has roots in other aspects of the society that require the collaboration of different stakeholders to find long-term solutions. Undoubtedly, focusing on these aspects will enable people not to feel depressed or defeated when they lose their jobs or when they remain unemployed for a long period.
References
Andrews, T 2012, 'What is Social Constructionism?', An International Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 2-19.
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2018, Labour force participation rate at all-time high, viewed 30 April 2018, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/latestProducts/6202.0Media%20Release1Mar%202018?OpenDocument
Dowling, J 2017, Toyota Closes Down Camry Factory in Altona Ending 54 Years in Melbourne, viewed 30 April 2018, https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/toyota-closes-down-camry-factory-in-altona-ending-54-years-in-melbourne-ng-b88618543z
Guimaraes, NA, Demaziere, D, Hirata, H " Sugita, K 2012, 'Unemployment, a Social Construction: Institutional Programs, Experiences and Meanings in a Comparative Perspective', Economic Sociology_The European Electronic Newsletter, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 11-24.
Mills, C 2000, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
O’Donnell, AT, Corrigan, F " Gallagher, S 2015, 'The impact of Anticipated Stigma on Psychological and Physical Health Problems in the Unemployed Group', Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 6, no. 1263, pp. 1-8. Doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01263
Ossewaarde, M 2014, 'Sociological Imagination for the Aged Society', Canadian Journal of Sociology, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 159-180.
Sojoodi, S, Zonuzi, FM " Nia, NMA 2012, 'The Role of Infrastructure in Promoting Economic,'Iranian Economic Review, vol. 16, no. 32, pp. 1-22.
