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Sociology
"McDonaldization"
What are the principles that "McDonaldization" (George Ritzer's term) impose on our lives?
The principles of McDonaldization are efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. Efficiency with respect to this term means the best way to perform a task or complete an activity. The priority is to create the best mode of production for a product or service. The ability to be unique or show individuality is discouraged and affects the industrial conception of efficiency in a bad way. The priority is the product, not the people. Calculability is the ability to quantify factors and situations. The priority is the quantity of the product rather than the quality of the product. Predictability is the trait of the production process that ensures uniformity among the products. Predictability takes out the element of surprise and of innovation. All products look precisely the same. It is predictable,...
Control refers to substituting robots or other forms of technology for human, manual labor. Control usually refers to the automation of labor or to the deskilling of the laborers. Overall, these principles make consumers and workers bored with products and with the production process. These principles impose ominous and systemic uniformity of products and of people. These principles impose upon people to value things more so than people.
2) Are there ways you can see the effects of McDonaldization in your life, beyond fast-food chains and grocery stores?
I can see McDonaldization of the retail and fashion industries. Retail these days seems to be very uniform and there is a clear emphasis on quantity rather than quality. Fashion seems to be more and more of a direct way to show how people are similar to each other. For example, Weber's practical rationality theory applies to the fashion industry today.…
Accordingly, the significance of the application of the conflict perspective to American food is that its accuracy is so blatantly valid that it has progressed almost unnoticed through our nation's history. Out of the philosophical roots of Marx, conflict theory has evolved and broadened its scope; today, it is most commonly used to evaluate the legal system, but the core conflict remains that between the proletariats and the owners
A white collar worker at the managerial level may find it difficult to market him or herself as unique outside of the corporate hierarchy after being downsized. Even physicians, plumbers, and other individuals that practice certain 'trades' may find their professions standardized and their skill's inherent worth downgraded, as franchised service industries become more popular. Jiffy Lube has replaced the independent mechanic just like Starbucks has replaced the corner
...Mechanical (rather than human) means are to be used to move the car (and parts) from one step in the assembly process to the next....Complex sets of movements are eliminated and the worker does 'as nearly as possible only one thing with one movement' "(Ibid, 59). Calculability "involves an emphasis on things that can be calculated, counted, quantified. It means a tendency to use quantity as a measure of quality. This
The Sociology of Fast Food Discussion 1: The sociological imagination allows a thorough investigation of the ways values, norms, and beliefs are transmitted. With an imaginative eye, the sociologist can critique social institutions and structures that would otherwise be taken for granted. The sociologist can imagine ways in which normalized social institutions and normalized social values affect the daily lives of individuals: impacting income disparity; gender relations; and race relations. Discussion 2:
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
Companies practically make it mandatory for these people to employ a "nicer than natural" attitude and thus influence them to feel estranged from their emotions. Even with the fact that flight attendants manage to avoid being stressed as a result of their coping mechanism, their thinking can turn in an occupational hazard. Employing such attitudes can lead to serious problems as flight attendants feel detached from their jobs and