The Mcdonaldization of Society 5

by Ritzer, George

• ISBN13: 9781412954297
• ISBN10: 1412954290
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-08-31
• Publisher: Sage Pubns

Summary

'This book has been a fabulous success with students because it combines elements of critical social theory, readability... and popular culture' - Charles Frederick, Jr., Indiana University One of the most noteworthy and popular sociology books of all time, The McDonaldization of Society demonstrates the power of the sociological imagination to today's readers in a way that few books have been able to do. Key Features of the new edition: - brand new chapter examining the Starbucks phenomenon and its relationship to McDonaldization - updated examples of McDonaldization, including online dating services (e.g. match.com), Viagra, MDMA (ecstasy), text-messaging, Ikea, and megachurches - an increased focus on globalization, including an examination into the relationship between McDonaldization and the environment

Table of Contents

About the Author	p. xi
Preface	p. xiii
An Introduction to McDonaldization	p. 1
McDonald's as a Global Icon	p. 6
The Long Arm of McDonaldization	p. 9
The Dimensions of McDonaldization	p. 13
Efficiency	p. 13
Calculability	p. 14
Predictability	p. 14
Control	p. 15
A Critique of McDonaldization: The Irrationality of Rationality	p. 15
Illustrating the Dimensions of McDonaldization: The Case of Ikea	p. 17
The Advantages of McDonaldization	p. 19
What Isn't McDonaldized?	p. 20
A Look Ahead	p. 21
The Past, Present, and Future of McDonaldization: From the Iron Cage to the Fast-Food Factory and Beyond	p. 23
Bureaucratization: Making Life More Rational	p. 24
Weber's Theory of Rationality	p. 24
Irrationality and the "Iron Cage"	p. 26
The Holocaust: Mass-Produced Death	p. 27
Scientific Management: Finding the One Best Way	p. 29
The Assembly Line: Turning Workers Into Robots	p. 31
Levittown: Putting Up Houses-"Boom, Boom, Boom"	p. 33
Shopping Centers: Mailing America	p. 35
McDonald's: Creating the "Fast-Food Factory"	p. 36
McDonaldization and Contemporary Social Changes	p. 39
The Forces Driving McDonaldization: It Pays, We Value It, It Fits	p. 39
Other Major Social Changes: McDonaldization in the Era of the "Posts"	p. 42
The Future: Are There Any Limits to the Expansion of McDonaldization?	p. 50
Looking to the Future: De-McDonaldization?	p. 52
Efficiency: Drive-Throughs and Finger Foods	p. 57
Streamlining the Process	p. 58
The Fast-Food Industry: Speeding the Way From Secretion to Excretion	p. 59
Home Cooking (and Related Phenomena): "I Don't Have Time to Cook"	p. 61
Shopping: Creating Ever-More Efficient Selling Machines	p. 63
Higher Education: Just Fill In the Box	p. 65
Health Care: Docs-in-a-Box	p. 66
Entertainment: Moving People (and Trash) Efficiently	p. 67
Online Dating: Show Your Interest With Just a "Wink"	p. 70
Other Settings: Streamlining Relationships With Even the Pope	p. 70
Simplifying the Product	p. 72
Putting Customers to Work	p. 74
Calculability: Big Macs and Little Chips	p. 79
Emphasizing Quantity Rather Than Quality of Products	p. 81
The Fast-Food Industry: Of "Big Bites" and "Super Big Gulps"	p. 81
Higher Education: Grades, Scores, Ratings, and Rankings	p. 84
Health Care: Patients as Dollar Signs	p. 87
Television: Aesthetics Are Always Secondary	p. 88
Sports: Nadia Comaneci Scored Exactly 79.275 Points	p. 89
Politics: There Were No Sound Bites in the Lincoln-Douglas Debate	p. 92
Reducing Production and Service to Numbers	p. 93
The Fast-Food Industry: Hustle, and a Precooked Hamburger Measures Exactly 3.875 Inches	p. 93
The Workplace: A Penny the Size of a Cartwheel	p. 95
Predictability: It Never Rains on Those Little Houses on the Hillside	p. 97
Creating Predictable Settings	p. 98
Motel Chains: "Magic Fingers" but No Norman Bates	p. 98
The Fast-Food Industry: Thank God for Those Golden Arches	p. 99
Other Settings: E.T. Can't Find His Home	p. 100
Scripting Interaction With Customers	p. 102
The Fast-Food Industry: "Howdy Pardner" and "Happy Trails"	p. 102
Other Settings: Even the Jokes Are Scripted	p. 104
Making Employee Behavior Predictable	p. 105
The Fast-Food Industry: Even Hamburger University's Professors Behave Predictably	p. 106
Other Settings: That Disney Look	p. 106
Creating Predictable Products and Processes	p. 107
The Fast-Food Industry: Even the Pickles Are Standardized	p. 108
Entertainment: Welcome to McMovieworld	p. 109
Sports: There's Even a McStables	p. 111
Minimizing Danger and Unpleasantness	p. 112
Control: Human and Nonhuman Robots	p. 115
Controlling Employees	p. 116
The Fast-Food Industry: From Human to Mechanical Robots	p. 116
Education: McChild Care Centers	p. 119
Health Care: Who's Deciding Our Fate?	p. 120
The Workplace: Do as I Say, Not as I Do	p. 121
Controlling Customers	p. 124
The Fast-Food Industry: Get the Hell Out of There	p. 124
Other Settings: It's Like Boot Camp	p. 126
Controlling the Process and the Product	p. 128
Food Production, Cooking, and Vending: It Cooks Itself	p. 128
The Ultimate Examples of Control: Birth and Death?	p. 131
Controlling Conception: Even Granny Can Conceive	p. 131
Controlling Pregnancy: Choosing the Ideal Baby	p. 132
Controlling Childbirth: Birth as Pathology	p. 134
Controlling the Process of Dying: Designer Deaths	p. 137
The Irrationality of Rationality: Traffic Jams on Those "Happy Trails"	p. 141
Inefficiency: Long Lines at the Checkout	p. 142
High Cost: Better Off at Home	p. 143
False Friendliness: "Hi, George"	p. 144
Disenchantment: Where's the Magic?	p. 146
Health and Environmental Hazards: Even Your Pets Are at Risk	p. 148
Homogenization: It's No Different in Paris	p. 151
Dehumanization: Getting Hosed at "Trough and Brew"	p. 152
Fast-Food Industry: Gone Is the "Greasy Spoon"	p. 155
Family: The Kitchen as Filling Station	p. 156
Higher Education: McLectures and McColleges	p. 158
Health Care: You're Just a Number	p. 159
Dehumanized Death	p. 160
Globalization and McDonaldization: Does It All Amount to..."Nothing"?	p. 163
Globalization	p. 164
McDonaldization and Grobalization	p. 168
Nothing-Something and McDonaldization	p. 170
Nothing-Something and Grobalization-Glocalization	p. 172
The Grobalization of Something	p. 172
The Grobalization of Nothing	p. 174
The Glocalization of Nothing	p. 176
The Glocalization of Something	p. 178
The Case for McDonaldization as an Example of the Glocalization of Something	p. 180
The Case for McDonaldization as an Example of the Grobalization of Nothing	p. 182
Dealing With McDonaldization: A Practical Guide	p. 187
Creating "Reasonable" Alternatives: Sometimes You Really Do Have to Break the Rules	p. 189
Fighting Back Collectively: Saving Hearts, Minds, Taste Buds, and the Piazza di Spagna	p. 191
McLibel Support Group: McDonald's Pyrrhic Victory	p. 191
National Heart Savers Association: McClog the Artery	p. 193
Slow Food: Creating a Place for Traditional, Regional, and High-Quality Food	p. 194
Sprawl-Busters: A "Hit List" of McDonaldized Superstores	p. 197
Local Protests: Not Wanting to Say "Bye-Bye to the Neighborhood"	p. 197
Coping Individually: "Skunk Works," Blindfolded Children, and Fantasy Worlds	p. 200
Games, Knitting, and Non-Rationalized Niches	p. 201
A Range of Individual Actions: If All Else Fails, Save the Children	p. 204
Freedom: If You Can't Cope, Can You Escape?	p. 207
Some Concluding Thoughts	p. 209
The Starbuckization of Society?	p. 211
Howard Schultz and the Founding of the Starbucks Empire: No More Swill	p. 214
What Has Starbucks Added to, or Removed From, the McDonald's Model?	p. 216
Muting McDonald's Hard Edge	p. 217
It's a Show	p. 219
On Dramaturgy	p. 220
Should the Concept of "Starbuckization" Replace "McDonaldization"?	p. 224
Starbucks and the Principles of McDonaldization	p. 224
The Irrationality of Rationality at Starbucks	p. 225
The "Starbucks Effect"	p. 228
The Convergence "of Starbucks and McDonald's	p. 229
Notes	p. 233
Bibliography	p. 277
Index	p. 283
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.