Summary
Contents
Subject index
George Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis argued that contemporary life is succumbing to the standardization, flexibility and practicability of fast-food service. This book brings together specially commissioned papers by leading social and cultural analysts to engage in a critical appraisal of the thesis. The contributors discuss the roots of the thesis, the rationalization of late modern life, the effects of increasing cultural commodification, the continuing prominence of American cultural and economic imperialism and the impact of globalization on social and cultural life. The strengths and weaknesses of the McDonaldization thesis are clearly evaluated and the irrational consequences of rationalization are pinpointed and critically
Dennis Hopper, McDonald's and Nike
Dennis Hopper, McDonald's and Nike
I want to read Ritzer's ‘McDonaldization of society’ thesis ironically and literally. Ironically, Ritzer finds perverse pleasures in pointing out how contemporary society has become McDonaldized. But his prescriptions (Ritzer, 1993: 182–5) for resisting the iron cage of McDonald's1 read like a Ralph Nader manifesto for middle-class consumer protest. I want to take his protests to a deeper, more critical level. This will require an extension of his central theme. He literally reads the postmodern landscape through the lens of McDonald's. I want to extend this McDonaldization of society thesis to the Nike Corporation, its ‘swoosh’ logo, and its ‘Just Do It’, ‘Be Like Mike’, ‘Air Jordan’ advertising slogans. I will compare McDonald's to Nike. ...
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