The Sociology Book

126

D I S N E Y I Z A T I O N R E P L A C E S

M U N D A N E B L A N D N E S S

W I T H S P E C T A C U L A R

E X P E R I E N C E S

ALAN BRYMAN

M

odern consumer culture

creates issues that have

far-reaching implications.

British professor Alan Bryman

is interested in the impact that

Disney theme parks have upon

wider society and in how their

model is influencing the ways in

which services and products are

made available for consumption.

Bryman argues that “Disneyization”

lies at the heart of contemporary

consumer society. The phenomenon

is profoundly shaping our shopping

experiences because, he says,

the principles underlying the

organization of such parks are

increasingly dominating other

areas: “Thus, the fake worlds of

the Disney parks, which represent

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Disneyization

KEY DATES

1955 Walt Disney opens the

first Disneyland to the general

public in California, attracting

50,000 visitors on its first day.

From the 1980s The term

“globalization” is used

increasingly to refer to the

growing interconnectedness

of the world.

1981 In Simulacra and

Simulation, Jean Baudrillard

says, “Disneyland is presented

as imaginary in order to make

us believe that the rest is real,

whereas all of Los Angeles and

the America that surrounds it

are no longer real, but belong

to... the order of simulation.”

1983–2005 Disney parks

are opened in Tokyo, Paris,

and Hong Kong.

1993 US scholar George

Ritzer publishes The

McDonaldization of Society.

Walt Disney creates

Disneyland and gradually

begins to open branches

across the world.

The organizational

principles that underlie

Disney’s parks influence

modes of consumption

more broadly.

Everyday activities

are transformed into

extraordinary events

that blur the distinction

between reality

and fantasy.

Disneyization

replaces mundane

blandness with

spectacular

experiences.