The McDonaldization Thesis: Explorations and Extensions (Studies in Rural Culture) - Softcover

Ritzer, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761955402 ISBN 13: 9780761955405

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1998

Synopsis

Few sociology books published in the 1990s have succeeded in capturing the imagination more than George Ritzer's The McDonaldization of Society, which has been translated into eight languages. Read and debated throughout the world, the book stimulated thought and discussion throughout all levels of the sociological community. In this new book, Ritzer provides a deeper exploration of the most innovative and imaginative sociological thesis of the last decade of the 20th century - McDonaldization. Part One of the book involves theoretical extensions including a discussion of the work of Karl Mannheim on rationalization. Max Weber's ideas provided the theoretical foundation for the McDonaldization thesis, but Mannheim's ideas are also useful and lead to some new perspectives on the process. Ritzer also assesses the degree to which sociology in general and sociological theory have been McDonaldized. Part Two is devoted to a discussion of the process of McDonaldization. One concern is with the degree to which jobs, and more generally the labour process, has been McDonaldized. Another is with the relationship between McDonaldization and related processes like globalization and the Americanization of the world. There is also an essay on the McDonalidzation of credit arrangements. Part Three involves an evaluation of the move beyond McDonaldization. Ritzer discusses what he terms `the new means of consumption' and the postmodern perspective that best illuminates them. The fast food restaurant is now conceived as one of the many new means of consumption that also includes credit cards, shopping malls, cybermalls and other `shopping experience' outlets. Disneyworld can be seen as a new means of consumption in the tourist realm and within that realm it plays the same role that McDonald's does in the larger society. The modern university - the McUniversity - is also discussed as a new means of educational consumption. The book c

About this title

About the Author:

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.

Review:

`Ritzer here revisits and extends the ground-breaking theory he first fully expounded in 1993 in The McDonaldisation of Society, since when he has published a number of papers which take the thesis further and on which this book builds....

This is exciting, readable, provocative modern sociology that sets out to challenge the dominant trends in the construction of our brave new global world....

His work constitutes a serious academic challenge from within the very heartland of McDonaldisation and I highly recommend it to those who want to gain a perspective on post-modern society (and

sociology)′ - Self & Society

`The new book will underline the importance and usefulness of the concept of McDonaldization and I fully expect that it will become a standard topic for years to come.. Fascinating, it will make an ideal focus for lectures, seminars and so on′ - Alan Bryman, Loughborough University

``McDonaldization′ I came to appreciate long ago - it is by now a household term!′ Professor Zygmunt Bauman, Department of Sociology, University of Leeds.

About this edition

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0761955402
• ISBN 13: 9780761955405
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224