Review: The Mcdonaldization Of Society

George Ritzer reintroduces a new concept of thinking in his book The McDonaldization of Society. McDonaldization was a concept that I was unfamiliar with but now I feel as if I understand it. The term itself is refers to a larger process of running a business efficiently. It is taking every action into account to produce the most efficient, predictable and controlled end. Ritzer points out that this way of doing business is dehumanizing the world and making it more homogenous. Ritzer provides many examples of how McDonaldization is overtaking society.

McDonaldization is in every society and seems to be growing. It just like every thing else has it advantages and its disadvantages. Businesses have gone global in recent years. When the business goes global it may not take into account the many differences in cultures. McDonalds has added special regional foods in many of their chains to attract more natives. They adapt few changes but the majority of the menu stays the same. This big scale business has really lost the flavor for small town local economies. Studies have also shown that in places that operate like McDonalds the people are treated more equally and that people know what to expect when going there.

In one part of the book Ritzer compares that the taking over of McDonaldization to that of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. It amazed me that he could even make this comparison but it was a good tactic to make me read on and think thoroughly about his ideas. I did like how Ritzer put the future of McDonaldization into perspective. He comparatively talks about childbirth and death. He really makes you feel like the world is slowly changing or in some cases not so slowly. I thought that he proved his point that the world is quickly being overrun by uncaring businesses. I really appreciated that he offered alternative ideas to people who do not want to participate in McDonalization. Participating in local economies is incredibly important