Resisting McDonaldization - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761955186 ISBN 13: 9780761955184

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1999

Synopsis

George Ritzer′s McDonaldization thesis argued that contemporary life is succumbing to the standardization, flexibility and practicability of fast-food service. This book brings together specially commissioned papers by leading social and cultural analysts to engage in a critical appraisal of the thesis.

The contributors discuss the roots of the thesis, the rationalization of late modern life, the effects of increasing cultural commodification, the continuing prominence of American cultural and economic imperialism and the impact of globalization on social and cultural life. The strengths and weaknesses of the McDonaldization thesis are clearly evaluated and the irrational consequences of rationalization are pinpointed and critically

About this title

About the Author:

Barry Smart is Professor of Sociology at the University of Portsmouth and has longstanding research interests in the fields of social theory, political economy, and philosophy. His research interests include critical social research ethics; higher education; and collaborative work on veganism, ethics, lifestyle and environment. 

Review:

`An impressively wide-ranging collection of critical responses to, and applications of, Ritzer′s thesis, including contributions by some of the world′s leading social theorists and held together by Barry Smart′s comprehensive introduction and Ritzer′s own detailed response to his admirers and critics. The ′Ritzer thesis′, as it has come to be know, has of course found a massive response, admirably captured in this volume′ - William Outhwaite, University of Sussex

`Consumer capitalism may be spreading everywhere, but not without opposition. As Resisting McDonaldization shows, a wide variety of people and movements struggle to maintain the local, to combine economic development with greater equality and justice, and to pursue alternative visions of the global future. The essays are trenchant and timely′ - Craig Calhoun, New York University, USA

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0761955186
• ISBN 13: 9780761955184
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272
• Editor: Smart Barry