The McDonaldization of Society links classical sociological theory to many aspects of contemporary life in a globalized world. Max Weber's rationalization thesis is updated and applied to the late 20th and early 21st century: where Weber focused on bureaucracies as the "iron cages" of rationalization in his time, the central premise of McDonaldization is that the fast food restaurant has become the model for the rationalization process today.
The book examines ways in which fast food businesses have created a system of operation based on efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control; and how the same principles have been applied to other settings and contexts as diverse as motel chains, "big box" stores, churches, child care centers, college rankings, health care providers, the Internet, and political participation. The author also looks at attempts to resist and reverse the effects of McDonalization, a term which has become part of the lexicon of contemporary sociological theory.
The McDonaldization of Society links classical sociological theory to many key aspects of contemporary life in a globalized world.
Chapter
1. Introduction
McDonaldization: The Basic Principles
The Advantages of McDonaldization
A Critique of McDonaldization: The Irrationality of Rationality
McDonalds: Creating the "Fast-Food Factory"
McDonalds and Other Brick-And-Mortar Consumption Sites
The Long Arm of McDonaldization
McDonalds as an American and a Global Icon
A Look Ahead
Chapter
2. McDonaldization: Past and Present
Thinking about the Brick-And-Mortar "Solids", Digital "Liquids", and the
Augmented Reality of "Bricks-and-Clicks"
Key Predecessors
McDonaldization and Consumption Today
Comparing McDonalds, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com
Chapter
3. Efficiency: Consumers 1
Efficiency: Drive-Throughs and Finger Foods
Calculability: Big Macs, Algorithms and Big Data
Chapter
4. Predictability and Control: Consumers 2
Predictability: It Never Rains on Those Little Houses on the Hillside
Control: Human and Nonhuman Robots
Chapter
5. Efficiency and Calculability: McJobs and Other McDonaldized
Occupations 1
McJobs and the Dimensions of McDonaldization
Efficiency: Its a Fetish
Calculability: Zeal for Speed
Chapter
6. Predictability and Control: McJobs and Other Mcdonaldized
Occupations 2
Predictability: Scripting and Controlling Employees
Control: Even Pilots Arent in Control
Chapter
7. The Irrationality of Rationality: Traffic James on Those "Happy
Trails"
Inefficiency: Long Lines at Checkout
High Cost: Better off at Home
False Friendliness: "Hi, George" and Emojis
Disenchantment: Wheres the Magic?
Health and Environmental Hazards: A Days Calories in One Fast-Food Meal
Homogenization: Its No Different in Paris
Dehumanization: Getting Hosed at "Troff n Brew"
Dealing With Irrationality: Of Velvet, Rubber, of Iron Cages?
Conclusion
George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association, an honorary doctorate from LaTrobe University in Australia, and the Robin Williams Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. His best-known work, The McDonaldization of Society (8th ed.), has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the editor of McDonaldization: The Reader; and author of other works of critical sociology related to the McDonaldization thesis, including Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, as well as a series best-selling social theory textbooks and Globalization: A Basic Text. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.; 2nd edition forthcoming), the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2016 he will publish the second edition of Essentials of Sociology with SAGE.
