McDonaldization is the process in which the principles of popular fast food companies such as McDonald’s are appearing throughout the world in many aspects of our modern society. As McDonaldization sweeps across the globe, The authors of McDonaldization Revisited argue that “‘Americanisation’ is so often a synonym for cultural decline” (Alfino, Caputo, & Wynyard , 1998, p. 8). George Ritzer claims that this is due to the rationalization of society as McDonaldization is meant to signify the optimal fusion of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control (Ritzer, 2011). The intricacies of the human touch are utterly eliminated from this process, and what is left is an uninviting, cold, and unforgiving concept. When the novelty of something so foreign and American wears off, adaptation is needed to sustain one’s position in other countries. One research design type that researchers might utilize to view McDonaldization would be observation of the adaptation and cultural assimilation across different parts the world. This can be measured with ethnographies, the systematic study of the customs of people and cultures. …show more content…
Around the world, McDonald’s iconic golden arches are more recognizable as an American symbol than the Christian cross (Schlosser, 2001). The interactionist perspective attempts to use symbolism and the information given by everyday interactions to better understand how society operates as a whole. This perspective views the impact of McDonaldization through its effect on the lives of everyday people throughout the world. The interactionist perspective would view the trend of McDonaldization as a negative influence on our culture because it takes away meaningful aspects of communication and originality in order to be more
The theory of “McDonaldization” describes the way different aspects of the modern world are taking on more and more of the “principles of the fast food restaurant” (Ritzer 1). Obviously, the term stems from the restaurant “McDonald’s” itself; however, McDonaldization is present in many restaurants, industries, politics, religion, and many aspects of social life as well. For example, the music industry has become increasingly McDonaldized. Artists are expected to produce many albums in a certain amount of time, they are expected to look the same and sound the same at any concerts they give, and most popular music is created through Auto Tune and producers cutting and pasting snippets of a song together. The modern idea of going on vacation is similarly McDonaldized. For example, you can go to another country, hire a tour guide to show you as many of the most popular spots as possible, as fast as possible. Your picture is taken in front of certain attractions, you are taken to certain places to eat, and you stay in certain places. It’s very efficient, the cost is easily calculated, and it’s incredibly predictable. For this paper, I will
Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, is a stark and unrelenting look into the fast food industry that has ingrained itself in not only American culture, but in many cultures around the world. There is almost no place on earth that the golden arches has not entered. Aside from Antarctica, there is a McDonalds on every continent, and the number of countries that have fast food restaurants is growing on a daily basis. Schlosser describes in detail what happens behind the scenes, before the hamburger and fries come wrapped in environmentally safe paper and are consumed by millions of people daily.
This essay focuses on the topic of globalization, taking along several other factors with it. Increasingly in the world, it becomes obvious that the globalization is affecting almost all the businesses of the world. Every market in some way or the other is following the principles of globalization. For example, McDonalds is a chain of restaurants working in collaboration to deliver their customers with the best product and to achieve this McDonalds follows the concepts of globalization. This essay will discuss anc ethnographic study at McDonalds examining whether it confirms or denies the claims made about globalization.
In today’s world, technology and current norms drive a large portion of everyday life that the vocabulary becomes a common universal language. For example, if you don’t know or understand something, just “google” or ask “siri” about it, write a “blog” about a recent experience, or witnessed the latest “post” that has received over 1.6K “likes”. George Ritzer describes the same thing with the fast food restaurant McDonald’s in his video “The McDonaldization of Society”. He defines McDonaldization as the process by which principles of the fast food restaurant have begun to overflow and dominate all aspects of our world.
sociologist George Ritzer argues that the relationship between McDonald’s and our society runs even deeper. Beyond its commercial propaganda and symbolism, Ritzer says, McDonald’s is a potent manifestation of the rational processes that define modern society.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
In “Fast Food and Intergenerational Commensality in Japan: New Styles and Old Patterns,” John W. Traphagan and L. Keith Brown employs ethnographic observation to analyze Japanese reception to the prevalence of McDonald’s in Japan, taking into account the subjects’ and informants’ ethnic backgrounds and cultural contexts. Critics maintain that the invasion of McDonald’s poses as a threat to the traditional dining patterns in Japan; however, few of them attempt to examine the underlying reasons of Japanese diners’ attraction towards McDonald’s. The authors argue that, rather than bluntly intruding the Japanese culture, McDonald’s naturally gain popularity amongst the local customers because of its exemplification of the deep-rooted Japanese values of commensality.
The site visit to McDonalds reinforced the idea that the people of Norway like the Norwegian way and that they believe their culture is superior. The people of Norway cannot accept McDonalds as a company unless it reforms to the Norwegian
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
A world without the Big Mac, Happy Meals, Chicken McNuggets, and the phrase “I’m lovin’ it,” is almost inconceivable. People around the globe have become accustomed to the high gleaming golden arches that make up the famous emblem for McDonald’s. McDonald’s has grasped the concept that culture flows from power. In this case, the American culture flows through the veins of this fast-food giant and the more that is supplied, the greater the demand. It is no secret that McDonald’s has become one of the world’s largest fast-food retailers. It has become a well known icon that has played a huge part in globalization, with chains located in many different countries… transforming the meaning of fast-food all around the world.
James Watson’s McDonald’s in Hong Kong is a textbook example of globalization. According to Webster’s dictionary, globalization is defined as “worldwide integration and development”. In McDonald’s in Hong Kong, Watson discusses a well-known and successful American fast food chain migrating over seas and embedding itself in the Hong Kong culture. Although Hong Kong was already recognized as an extremely transnational civilization, there were worries that the country would lose cultural identity. The fears were that Hong Kong would become more Americanized and lessen their ties to the Cantonese ways.
The McDonaldization of Society The McDonaldization of society may sound somewhat misleading but the term actually refers to the rationalization of society. The use of the word "McDonaldization" just simply indicates that the fast food restaurant is one of many great examples of rationality. Ritzer discusses five dimensions that characterize rationality or a rationalized society: efficiency, predictability, calculability, the use and preference of non-human technology, and the control over uncertainty. The five characteristics can be noticed in various aspects of society which exemplifies the extent that rationality affects our society and societies worldwide. In this paper I will summarize Ritzer's discussion of these five characteristics and give possible examples of each dimension.
Clearly, McDonaldization is from McDonalds an American based restaurant. Globalization can be inferred from the global impact America has had within the media and entertainment industry as well as Americas military presence around the globe. Cultural Appropriation can be seen all over the United States where many take advantage of the “flashy” and “hot” styles of certain cultures without facing any responsibility or consequences that come with them. Cultural Imperialism is something that has affected a worldwide impact, because everyone has been subjugated to American adverts and products. In this way the term “Americanization” can be helpful, because when explaining the process of it you can easily see the correlating ideas.
Vignali, C. (2001). McDonald’s: “think global, act local”--the marketing mix. British Food Journal, 103(2), pp.97--111.