Ritzer and the McDonaldization of Society
In his essay, George Ritzer posits that there has become a “McDonaldization” of society, meaning that society mirrors the way in which McDonalds’ are run-efficiency and uniformity are superior to quality and personalization (Ritzer, p.1). This rational way of life also carries over to businesses and is similar to the economic rationalism that Max Weber describes in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
When Ritzer discusses the McDonaldization of society, he describes a rational society, in which motives are purposeful and set in place in order to reach different end goals. He breaks down the way in which it is rational into five dimensions. First, he mentions how we do things more efficiently, the best way to get to an end. He uses the metaphor of how we choose to get our meals to describe the transformation of efficiency that has taken place. We have gone from cooking meals from scratch, to using recipes, to heating up frozen dinners, to finally eating at fast food restaurants, most of which have drive-thru’s to order from (Ritzer, p.3).
Next, Ritzer states the importance that predictability plays in our lives, especially when we are attempting to choose what to purchase. Knowing that a meal will be just as tasty as it was when we had it a month ago, allows us to feel a certain security and confidence in returning to a place we had previously dined (Ritzer, p.3). Then, Ritzer argues that we have a need to be able to measure the quality of things, which can be challenging, and therefore we try to measure them by quantity (Ritzer, p.5). It makes us feel good to know that we are performing our best and that we purchased the best car. The problem here is that not all things, such as grades, food, and employees, can be measured by a score (Ritzer, p.6).
The fourth dimension Ritzer brings to light is the replacement of humans by non-human technology. The people working in fast food restaurants are soon to be replaced by machines (Ritzer, p.6). Those workers who are not able to be replaced are still told exactly how to perform their jobs, leaving very little room for creativity and craftsmanship (Ritzer, p.7). Finally, Ritzer explains our need to have control over various aspects of life, including other lives themselves. We are so concerned with having control over other people, especially employers over their workers and businesses over their clientele (Ritzer, p.7). He warns that rationality has negative effects as well, such as making things more impersonal and taking the excitement out of the unknown (Ritzer, p.8).
All of these dimensions of a rational society can be related to the economy; most of them lead to a higher production of goods and sales. They can also, especially efficiency, be related to Weber’s description of economic rationalism, in which Protestants worked harder in a more purposeful and calculated manner in order to earn more money (Weber, p.7). It seems as though this idea is still continuing to evolve today.
