The McDonaldization of Society 5

The McDonaldization of Society 5

By: George Ritzer  

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Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5

Instructor Praise for This Book
"The text is eminently readable. Many of my students . . . identify with the themes very rapidly. They see the connections with their own world of experience and gain confidence in thinking sociologically." -Michael Nofz, University of Wisconsin

“This book has been a fabulous success with students because it combines elements of critical social theory, readability . . . and popular culture.” -Charles R. Frederick, Jr., Indiana University

Student Praise for This Book
“The text opened my eyes up a bit to the world around me.” “I really enjoyed the writing style of the book. . . . I thought of it as a book I would recommend to friends, not as a textbook.”

As one of the most noteworthy and popular sociology books of all time, The McDonaldization of Society 5 demonstrates the power of the sociological imagination to today’s readers in a way that few other books have. The McDonaldization of Society 5 has been updated with many contemporary examples that speak relevantly to today’s student. This engaging book, sure to spark debate both in and out of the classroom, connects the everyday world of the “twenty-something” consumer with sociological analysis.

New to McDonaldization 5

• Presents a new concluding chapter on Starbuckization: A new Chapter 10 titled “The Starbuckization of Society?” examines the Starbucks phenomenon in relation to McDonaldization.
• Links pop culture to McDonaldization with contemporary examples: Updated examples include online dating services, Viagra, MDMA (Ecstasy), text messaging, Chipotle, Pollo Campero, extreme sports, robotic surgery with the Da Vinci system, Snack Wraps, megachurches, and more.
• Features an increased focus on globalization: Global issues are more prevalent throughout this edition, particularly in the discussion of the relationship between McDonaldization and the environment in Chapter 7.
• Looks at precursors and future possibilities of McDonaldization: A revised Chapter 2 combines a discussion of the precursors of McDonaldization and content on dealing with contemporary changes in, and future possibilities of, a McDonaldized world.

Accompanied by High Quality Ancillaries

• An Instructor Resources on CD, featuring PowerPoint presentations, suggested essay questions and activities, video resources, teaching tips, an interview with the author, and more, is available for qualified instructors. Contact Customer Care at 1.800.818.7243 (6am – 5pm PT) to request a copy.
• A Student study site at www.pineforge.com/mcdonaldizationstudy5 includes interviews with the author, Learning from SAGE Journal Articles, a McDonaldization myspace page, student activities, and more.
  

IRCDs are available for qualified instructors only. To request an IRCD for this book please contact Customer Care at 1.800.818.7243 (6 am – 5 pm Pacific Time) or by emailing info@sagepub.com with course name and enrollment and your university mailing address to expedite the process.

Intended Audience
The bestselling The McDonaldization of Society is already in use in a variety of courses:

Sociology                                     Business & Management

Introduction to Sociology                 Consumer Behavior

Social Problems                              Organizational Communication

Social Change                                Foundations of Leadership

Globalization

Sociology of Work

It is also popular in freshman seminars, as well as with those interested in social criticism.


Contributor to the SAGE/Pine Forge ASA Teaching Innovations & Professional Development Awards Fund

Publisher: Pine Forge Press

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
The McDonaldization of Everything - Control - standardized and uniform employees, replacement of human by non-human technologies. McDonald's has also been obsessed with efficancy and it sucks. McDonald's is horrid but it gives one a "quasi-religions' feeling.

The author Ritzer sees the fast-food restaurant as having become a" more representative contemporary paradigm" and I agree most companies want to be like McDonald's.

"A single homogeneous one face one smile one man." (What a nightmare.)

The food says the author "irredeemably horrid" it is ground kneaded and extruded by heavy machinery that compacts it so the texture is like that of a baloney sausage ....once cooked the burger is insulated in a soggy bun topped with pickle slices that seemed recycled or shredded lettuce that is wet.

Quasi religious feeling indeed Ronald is more well know then Santa.
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun !!

It is not just McDonald's most corporations are becoming more inhumane.
Worse then that is the fact that we have already witnessed the The McDonaldization of Society what is next?

Customer Review: 3 out of 5
More than I though - I though that this book would be more focused on McDonalds but as it turns out it is more about the trends that are so well encapsulated in the business that most people will be familiar with, McDonalds.

In many ways the book focuses on the more negative impacts of the modern culture of 'fast food'. This is not to say that the issues are not relevant or valid, however the growth of such modern businesses doesn't happen without their ability to successfully satisfy a need.

In many ways the book portrays this commercialism as the culprit yet is this simply happening because that is what modern society is demanding? Cheaper costs and faster service? It is a bit of the chicken and egg syndrome.

All in all the book is a worthwhile read as it demonstrates how far the 'scientific methods' that have been successfully applied and adopted in McDonalds are now common place. It really makes you wonder where it will all end and whether it is really providing benefit. Even if it isn't, as long as there is demand it will remain an applicable business strategy.

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
Enlightening - I am reading this book for my Sociology class and it has completely changed the way I look at society. A must read

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
The grobalization of nothing - McDonalds's is G. Ritzer's perfect paradigm for explaining the actual structure of our planet. He has built his portrait on Max Weber's rationalization concept. This concept expresses man's search for the optimum means to a given end by rules, regulations and larger social structures. Its driving force is economics (capitalism).
This concept affects virtually all aspects of our society all over the world: work, education, health care, leisure, transport, sports, politics, justice, religion and the family. It shows a planet centered on rational consumerism.
The ingredients of the system are efficiency, calculability, predictability and nonhuman technologies for controlling people. It was greatly helped by technological breakthroughs like automobiles, TV, the computer, internet and lasers (DVD) and by fundamental changes in Western societies (single parent families, working women, higher mobility, increasing disposable income, time savings, mediatization and advertising).

But Max Weber foresaw also the lurking irrationalities, the dehumanization and homogenization, which expressed themselves in environmental and health problems (air pollution), McJobs (disenchantment, false friendliness), traffic jams, bureaucratization.
McDonaldization produces the perfect way of life for people who, as Nietzsche said, use the wrong conjugation: they don't live, they are lived.

For G. Ritzer, McDonaldization is the `grobalization of nothing': a world dominated by the imperialistic ambitions of nations, corporations and organizations, whose main intent is growth of their power, influence and profits. `Nothing' is a social form that is generally centrally conceived, controlled and comparatively devoid of distinctive substantive content.'

The author would like to see a more deMcDonaldizated world (see the many recommendations at the end of the book), but McDonaldization is still on the march, certainly in developing countries.

This book is a crucial, superbly documented, text for all those who want to understand the world we live in.
A must read.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
Eye Opening Experience - This book was required reading for an undergraduate sociology course for Human Relations majors (sociology course for sociology/education/psychology). It was an eye opening experience because the readers/continuous learner is encouraged to step inside the corporate framework that directly affects our ideas and acceptance of an ideology of busines, etc based on the McDonald's corporate culture.

Our class found it powerful reading and most were challenged to think about and ask, "what are we really doing to improve our lives, culture and global community?"

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