The McDonaldization Of Society

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of rationalization further into the realm of everyday interaction and individual identity. McDonald's serves as the case model of this process in the 1990's.
...McDonaldization,...is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world. (Ritzer, 1993:1)
How Far Has It Gone?

Since 1955 McDonald's has grown to over 12,000 outlets worldwide. The central concepts employed in the fast-food industry have spread to all types of restaurants. Everything from pizza to lobster, from ice cream to bread, from alcohol to fried chicken is dominated by the Chain mentality.

We no longer have to go to the chains. They have come to us. They are in the suburbs, the central cities, the malls, our schools and military bases, our hospitals and airports, even our airplanes and ballparks. They dominate our highway interchanges-every exit looks the same.

It's not only the food industry that ...

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dinners andsupermarkets (versus the old-time groceries where you gave your order to the grocer). The interesting element here is that the customer often ends up doing the work that previously was done for them. And the customer pays for the "privilege." We end up spending more time, being forced to learn new technologies, remember more numbers, and often pay higher prices in order for the business to operate more efficiently (maintain a higher profit margin).

Calculability

"(this) involves an emphasis on things that can be calculated, counted, quantified. Quantification refers to a tendency to emphasize quantity rather than quality. This leads to a sense that quality is equal to ...

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