Hello, welcome to McDonald’s may I take your order…? A number three with a chocolate milkshake? No problem sir…that will be eight dollars and seventy-three cents”. One can say this is how our society works-fast, quick, instant-like McDonalds. George Ritzer’s McDonaldization of Society is based on his theory and social criticism on rationalization of society as a whole through the growth and principles of McDonald’s fast-food model of business. The book begins with an introduction chapter that describes the background of McDonalds and outlines the different chapters of the book. Chapter two discusses a history of socioeconomic developments that help to create ideas about McDonalds including theories of F.W. Taylor, Max Weber and Henry Ford, McDonalds in the present day, and what is predicted for the future of the McDonald system.
In The McDonaldization of Society, author George Ritzer takes the main points of Max Weber’s work and updates them, providing an analysis of the impact of structural change on identity and human interaction. Instead of it being strictly about McDonald’s, it’s about how the principles of the fast food industry have come to control American society and the rest of the world. Max Weber’s central analysis of society was the process of rationalization, where normal ways of thinking are replaced by an ends/means analysis concerned with social control and effieinciecy. An excellent example of this, according to Max Weber, was the bureaucracy – a formal, large organization characterized by an authority structure (hierarchal), a division of labor, impersonality, written rules and regulations, and a an focus on technical competence.
According to Ritzer, the fast-food restaurant has since become the primary forc...
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...as the same goal as far as efficient service as fast as possible without effecting the quality of their product. This is because McDonald's already has imprinted on people's minds that they will get the same burger, same friendly service, same salt-filled fries each and every visit in the quickest amount of time-which usually is not the case. They reinforce this idea on the minds of their customers through clever tools such as advertising on television-they make their fast food commercials look like McDonald’s is the be all end all and people fall for it. For example, every McDonald's sign is a tally of how many people in the world have dined there, which is currently at 99 billion served. The use of this sign reinforces to people that McDonald's is an icon in our society and many people will equate that large number with McDonald's being the best restaurant ever.
The New York Times bestseller Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is one of the most riveting books to come out about fast food restaurants to date (Schlosser, 2004). Fast food consumption has become a way of life for many in the United States as well as many other countries in the world. The author Eric Schlosser an investigative reporter whose impeccable researching and bold interviewing captures the true essence of the immense impact that fast food restaurants are having in America (2004). Beginning with McDonald’s, the first fast food restaurant, which opened on April 15, 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois to current trends of making fast food a global realization McDonald’s has paved the way for many fast food restaurants following the same basic ideal that is tasty foods served fast at a minimal cost (2011). Schlosser explains how fast food restaurants have gained substantial market share of the consumers; he also shows that by marketing to children and offering less unhealthful fare, that are purchased from mega-companies which are often camouflaged with added ingredients and cooked unhealthful ways, that these companies are indeed causing irreparable harm to our country (2004).
In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser goes beyond the facts that left many people’s eye wide opened. Throughout the book, Schlosser discusses several different topics including food-borne disease, near global obesity, animal abuse, political corruption, worksite danger. The book explains the origin of the all issues and how they have affected the American society in a certain way. This book started out by introducing the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station beside the Colorado Springs, one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in America. This part presents the whole book of facts on fast food industry. It talks about how Americans spend more money on fast food than any other personal consumption. To promote mass production and profits, industries like MacDonald, keep their labor and materials costs low. Average US worker get the lowest income paid by fast food restaurants, and these franchise chains produces about 90% of the nation’s new jobs. In the first chapter, he interviewed Carl N. Karcher, one of the fast food industry’s leade...
Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society: An Investigation into the Changing Character of Contemporary Social Life, Rev.Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1996.
The term“McDonalization” is invented by the sociologist George Ritzer(cited in, p180), indicating the power of the spreading trend of America culture. In the book The McDonaldization of Society, Ritzer argues that fast food restaurants are becoming dominated and have profoundly affected other sectors not only in America but also in the rest of the world. Showing from the statistics, McDonald’s has expanded to over 31,000 restaurants worldwide within the last fifty years (N.E. Dollahite & J. Haun, p180). In the big cities of a country, McDonald’s is everywhere: on the main streets, in the shopping centers, around tourist attractions. McDonald’s is so popular that in China, take a simple example, it’s not surprising to see a 5-year-old child clearly knows the menu of McDonald’s and is addicted to French fries and hamburgers. Many of them even view their trips to McDonald’s as the rewards from their parents for good
With the help of 68 million customers around the world, McDonald’s has become a top ten company in the world with billions of dollars coming in. The story of McDonald’s started within the minds of Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernardino, California on May 15, 1940. The two brothers came up with the idea of the fast food chain with the observation from their father who was an owner of his own restaurant called “The Airdome.” Later, the brothers were given the idea to add the thought of a corporation with the help of Ray Kroc, seller of the milkshake machine that has been used at McDonald’s. Ray Kroc turned a locally branch fast food restaurant into what it is today. Today, McDonald’s is a company that is highly respected because of how
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.
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.
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.
Unlike Marx and Durkheim, Weber rejects to utilize universal tendencies to generalize all social actions (Jones et al, 2011: 84). Instead, Weber believes that historical circumstances are distinctive and should be understood by comprehending the reasons behind the actions respectively (ibid: 85). Through out his sociology, Weber focuses mainly on the problem of rationality and rationalisation process throughout Western culture (Swidler, 1973: 35) . Modern Western society is becoming rationalised increasingly according to Weber (Ritzer, 1998: 42). After Weber, his thought is applied by Ritzer (1983) to the fast-food restaurant in American society, which is called McDonaldisation. Both two theories regard formal rationality as the foundation
Have you ever wondered how the business empire of McDonalds was started? With over ninety nine billion served, it was started in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. It was started off as just a Bar-B-Q that served just twenty items. Its first mascot was named “Speedee” They eventually realized that by setting up their kitchen like an assembly line that they could be much more productive and get their food done faster, with every employee doing a specified job; the restaurants production rate became much higher. A milkshake machine vendor came into their small restaurant one day, his name was Ray Kroc. He saw how much potential the restaurant has, so he bought it out and opened one of the first franchises. Within the first year of Ray Kroc buying it, there were one hundred and two locations all around the world. McDonalds currently is one of the largest fast food restaurants in the world and currently has served over sixty four million customers through one of their thirty two thousand sites. It has almost become a way of life for America. Though, McDonalds started off as a small business between two brothers, it grew into one of the largest restaurant franchises in the world and greatly affects our society and how we eat our food.
Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of Society. Revised New Century Edition. California: Pine Forge Press, 2004.
RITZER, G (2008) The McDonaldisation of Society (5th edition) London: Sage. (Ch. 3 – Efficiency)
Given the circumstances, society, in the eyes of Max Weber, is currently in a modern capitalist spirit. It is also McDonaldization of bureaucracy were social domination is entment. It is ran by the high class Business owners who set the rules for the workers and the rest of society including myself and everyone else who reports to
McDonald’s has become a symbol of globalization of American product. Most everyone in the world can recognize the McDonalds logo at first sight. Food has been a center piece to socialization and America has influenced countries to move away from having dinners at home and making fast food places more of a convenience. This is becoming an apparent trend as families are eating out more and always on the go but Food is not the only part of our culture that is rapidly being spread around the