The Sociology Book

120

MCDONALDIZATION

A F F E C T S V I R T U A L L Y

EVERY ASPECT

O F S O C I E T Y

G E O R G E R I T Z E R ( 1 9 4 0 – )

G

erman sociologist Max

Weber argued that a

defining feature of the

shift from traditional to modern

society was the ever-growing

number of aspects of life that

were organized and enacted along

rational, as opposed to emotionally

oriented or value-laden, lines.

Developing Weber’s ideas, US

sociologist George Ritzer claims

that the process has reached new

levels in both North American and

Western European culture, and is

now manifested in unprecedented

ways. According to Ritzer, author

of the 1993 sociological classic

The McDonaldization of Society,

this “wide-ranging process of

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

McDonaldization

KEY DATES

1921–1922 Max Weber’s

Economy and Society, which

analyzes the relationship

between rationality and

bureaucracy, is published

in Germany.

1961 US entrepreneurs

Richard (“Dick”) and Maurice

(“Mac”) McDonald sell their

pioneering fast-food burger

business to Ray Kroc, who

develops it worldwide.

1997 The sushi restaurant

chain YO! Sushi opens in

Britain, self-consciously

using the McDonald’s model.

1999 British sociologist

Barry Smart edits Resisting

McDonaldization, a wide-

ranging collection of critical

responses to Ritzer’s

McDonaldization thesis.