Mcdonaldization of Society by George

¶ … McDonaldization of Society by George Ritzer

The book "The McDonaldization of Society" by George Ritzer provides a detailed discussion of the influence and effect of the fast food company McDonald's to the development of human society as it achieves, to the fullest, the triumph of rationalization of the capitalist system on the dawn of the 21st century. Through the model of McDonald's, Ritzer allows his readers to reflect on the culture that the fast food company had created for contemporary society, particularly in the context of American society. With the development of McDonald's as an institution in the American business sector and culture, it inevitably shaped the "fast food" society -- that is, products, services, as well as the lifestyle of people, reflects instantaneous production and accomplishment, respectively.

The author discusses the positive and negative effects of the McDonaldization of society. On one hand, the McDonaldization of American society is a manifestation of Max Weber's claim that society achieves rationalization -- that is, a society "...dominated by efficiency, predictability, calculability, and nonhuman technologies." Looking into this concept, McDonald's has indeed embodied Weber's theory of rationalization: in the McDonald's culture, every product is calculated and precisely measured, every service is standardized. In fact, the standardization of everything that the fast food company offers -- food, service, and even the ambience and 'look' of a McDonald's restaurant -- reflects an attempt to establish a culture wherein there is consistency and predictability in people's actions. That is, people line up to order their food on a standardized menu, the crew greets a standard greeting to all their customers, and when order is served, people seat in chairs and tables designed to make people comfortable, yet, not comfortable enough to make them stay there longer (allowing new customers to take their place). In sum, rationalization has institutionalized McDonald's and made it and its principles of standardization a part of every American's life.

However, it is also important to note that Ritzer attempts to provide a critical analysis of the whole McDonaldization process: that, while McDonald's have become an icon of the American society for the contemporary period, it has also become the symbol for the furthering of irrationality of the society as well. This claim is evidently a paradox, since what McDonaldization has brought to society is actually a move towards irrationality, wherein every action of individuals has become mechanical and standardized. Critical theorists (and Ritzer) consider this process as "dehumanization." Instead of giving people their full potential in enhancing their skills and knowledge at work, the prevalence of "scripted interaction" in almost every transaction conducted in capitalist societies have resulted to dehumanization as people are merely taught to memorize lines, actions, even behavior that reflects the "image" of the institution or organization they are working for.