McDONALDIZATION: The Reader

By: Ritzer, George

Book Overview

The Third Edition of McDonaldization: The Reader includes a wide array of sources, from journal articles, to essays from edited books, to newspaper and magazine articles. George Ritzer, best-selling author of McDonaldization of Society, has updated this popular anthology to build upon and go beyond the thesis of McDonaldization. Classic articles from the First and Second Editions remain in this volume and are supplemented by a significant number of new pieces which bring the discussion about McDonaldization up to date.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1412975824
• ISBN13: 9781412975827
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

perhaps the Internet is a countertrend

Ritzer offers the loaded term McDonaldization as anything that takes after McDonald's Corporation. Four precepts are given - efficiency, calculability, predictability and automatic control. This book searches human society for examples that satisfy these precepts. A strange lens with which to view, perhaps. The fear, and that is basically the right word, is that those examples can or will inevitably lead to a homogenisation and standardisation of experiences. A shallow oneness for all. One very interesting example from the book is the claim that the Internet is one of these examples. There has certainly been a commonality of experiences. Now, many people use browsers, with the differences between browsers being trivial. And the browser metaphor has proved axiomatic; a key factor in the Web's success. But the ability for anyone for make content for the Internet is a trend against a homogeneous experience. So that many diverse interests can be accessed and enjoyed.