This is a different approach from what Schossler describes among burger chains like McDonalds. So what do you think? Or are they dead-end jobs that typify all that is negative about large bureaucracies?
Have you ever worked in one? Would you? Fast-food jobs are expected to grow more quickly than most industries. Graph courtesy of U. What do you think about the recent spotlight on fast food restaurants? Do you believe they provide a needed service? Have you ever worked a job like this? What did you learn? Skip to main content. According to Ritzer, changes within science, economy, and culture have shifted societies away from Weber's bureaucracy to a new social structure and order that he calls McDonaldization.
As he explains in his book of the same name, this new economic and social order is defined by four key aspects. Ritzer asserts that these characteristics are not only observable in production, work, and in the consumer experience , but that their defining presence in these areas extends as ripple effects through all aspects of social life.
McDonaldization affects our values, preferences, goals, and worldviews, our identities, and our social relationships. Further, sociologists recognize that McDonaldization is a global phenomenon, driven by Western corporations, the economic power and cultural dominance of the West, and as such it leads to a global homogenization of economic and social life. After laying out how McDonaldization works in the book, Ritzer explains that this narrow focus on rationality actually produces irrationality.
He observed, "Most specifically, irrationality means that rational systems are unreasonable systems. By that, I mean that they deny the basic humanity, the human reason, of the people who work within or are served by them.
Those that work under these conditions often experience them as dehumanizing as well. This is because McDonaldization does not require a skilled workforce. Focusing on the four key characteristics that produce McDonaldization has eliminated the need for skilled workers. Workers in these conditions engage in repetitive, routinized, highly focused and compartmentalized tasks that are quickly and cheaply taught, and thus easy to replace. This kind of work devalues labor and takes away workers' bargaining power.
Sociologists observe that this kind of work has reduced workers' rights and wages in the US and around the world, which is exactly why workers at places like McDonald's and Walmart are leading the fight for a living wage in the U.
Meanwhile in China, workers who produced iPhones and iPads face similar conditions and struggles. Shopping is predictable in the mall, the same stores, often the same layout, enclosed and protected from the unpredictable weather.
Our lives are structured and controlled; we go through the motions on auto-pilot. Specifically, replacement of human by nonhuman technology is often oriented towards greater control. The great source of uncertainty and unpredictability in a rationalizing system are people-either the people who work within those systems or the people who are served by them. Ritzer Everything is pre-packaged, pre-measured, automatically controlled.
The human employee is not required to think, just follow the instructions and push a button now and then. At home, our ovens and probes tell us when our food is done, seasoning is premixed, or the meal comes complete in one convenient package. Checkers at the supermarket don't have to think either, just scan the barcode we've already weighed and labeled the produce.
The scanners are replacing the checkers, but they also allow for more control over the customer; prices are no longer on the items we buy so we have less ability to oversee our spending and the accuracy of the store's charges. We accept the "infallibility" of the computerized check-out.
Airplanes are already under the control of computers, pilots merely oversee the process. Soon automobiles will follow suit-already diagnostic modules "tell" mechanics what components need to be replaced note: there is little repair that takes place.
What this means is that the skills and capabilities of the human actor are quickly becoming things of the past. Who we are and how we interact is becoming defined by our dependence upon and subordination to the machine. Although there have been many benefits and conveniences that are related to this process of McDonaldization: variety, round-the-clock banking and shopping, and often speedier service; there is a certain sense that these rational systems tend to turn in on themselves, to lead to irrational outcomes.
By that I mean that they deny the basic humanity, the human reason, of the people who work within or are served by them. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. All rights reserved.
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