George Ritzer's book, The McDonaldization of Society was one of the most eye opening books I have ever read. Ritzer did a fabulous job of breaking down society into a simple example of fast food chains. Refering to our society as following the idea of fast food chains- predictable, calculable, efficient, and controlling, Ritzer not only described society today, but also used clear examples of how society will adapt and be effected by McDonaldization in the future.
I was so unaware of the effects of McDonaldization on society, not only are we becoming robots in a way, but also we are starting to move so quickly in everything we do that people are forgetting to enjoy life. I loved everything about this book, from the examples Ritzer used to the knowledge it brought forth to me.
The only downfall of the book was how synical I have become since reading it. The McDonaldization of Society informed me with so much knowledge it made me take a step back and analyze the things around me. All I have to say is I think we have a scary world ahead of us. I mean seriously who want to live in a robot society?....I certainly don't .
Overall The McDonaldization of Society is a book I would recommend to read, but be prepared of what you are about to embark upon.

Finally someone to critique this whole SUV-driving,fast-food gobbling, ATM, credit-card debting, Banana Republic we have created...

This book, for me, almost read like a comedy, especially when Ritzer describes the "iron cage of McDonaldization" - how devices that were designed to save Americans time and money - fast food windows, ATM machines - actually end up wasting more time and money. Intelligent theory underlies his arguments. I'm thinking many aspects of the Internet could be the same way...Best quote was from the teenager in Dale City, Va., who, when McDonald's came to their town, said: "Nothing this big has ever happened to Dale City."

Ritzer analyzes the way McDonaldized systems work to increase efficiency while lowering quality, how we accept bland homogeneity for the sake of convenience while stifling diversity. An outstanding book of sociology, written with uncommon grace and humor.

George Ritzer in this book gives us a quick survey of the history of McDonald's restaurants. Then he analyzes in depth the four parameters of this phenomenon : efficiency, calculability, predictability, control, and then moves to his criticism of this rationality, what he calls the irrationality of rationality. The book is absolutely biased because it does not take into account the tremendous improvements such a phenomenon brought to society : a certain liberation of women from housework with take-away restaurants, the possibility to work shorter hours by reducing the lunch-break to a very short period of time, hence enabling people to go home earlier and to have more free time thanks to less wasted time, the possibility for many millions of people to go to a restaurant, without spending there a tremendous amount of time, and some of those millions might never have had this opportunity in the old times. What's more Ritzer forgets that it has always been a fundamental objective of humanity to reduce wasted time, to reduce heavy, difficult and long tasks to mechanized lighter, faster and easier tasks. We can discuss the percentage of fat in McDonald's burgers, but we cannot say this type of rationalization goes against humanity : it is in perfect continuity with what humanity has always tried to do. When the printing press was invented it rationalised the production of books and made old « books » obsolete (what a loss when we know the beauty of such old middle-ages books), but it also enabled the multiplication of such books and the lowering of their cost, so that a whole revolution came out of it : the spreading of the printed Bible transformed the Christian world with no chance to go back to the limitation of the knowledge of and access to the Book to only a minority that could do and say what they wanted. This book is essential to understand our modern world, but it is dictating a model that has become in many ways obsolete. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

So often we hear those words, "I wish there were more time." More time for minding the kids, more time for doing our work with the quality that we somehow know can be attained, more time for creative pursuits. Why this pervasive "time deficit" malaise? Sociologist George Ritzer has some answers, and they are unsettling.

In "The McDonaldization of Society," Ritzer takes the fast-food industry and its principles of business as an organizational template for emerging postmodern society. He points out that the book in not a criticism of McDonald's, nor even the fast-food business, but an analysis of how fast-food organizational practices have permeated into myriad aspects of our social lives. His marshalling of evidience for this trend is compelling. Using many examples from such disparate social institutions as family life, higher education, the funeral business, health care, and entertainment, Ritzer illuminates the broader trends within the "taken for granted" daily routines of life. He does so with a keen sociological eye, but also with a very wry sense of irreverence that adds a sardonic touch of humor to the expose.

The fast-food model, according to Ritzer, has a manner of pushing us towards ever greater reliance on the fostering of quantity over quality, attainment of efficiency, creation of predictability, and reducing much of our life experience to a coldly calculated "value." As one reads further and takes in the diverse landscape of specific illustrations for these trends, one begins to see the "McDonalized" influence everywhere. Then too, one will also grasp why so many of us are bemoaning the demise of free time in our lives, and how we have become unwitting captives of the mindless inertia of "I want it fast, I want it now, I want what's next" mentalities.

Fortunately, Ritzer includes a chapter on what to do about living in a "McDonalized" world. He points out that we do have choices, and responsibilities, shoud we choose to accept them. One can learn to march to a less frantic pace of social organization, and recognize that many of the promised "rewards" of such an accelerated lifestyle are simply false and hollow.

After reading a book like this, one feels compelled to begin thinking through the relationship between personal life and institutional pressures for faster living. That alone is a solid reason to have a copy of this book. It will uncover some unpleasant realities, but at the same time challenge one to get beyond the defeatist attitude of "well, what you gonna' do?"

"McDonaldization of Society" is indeed a wake-up call, but also a consciousness altering work that underscores the important truth: just because the rest of society seems to be running faster and without real purpose, it doesn't mean that one must fall in line. My advice: Purchase this insightful book, take time to read and think about it... read it, in fact, at a favorite "Ma and Pa" type diner, where they won't encourage you to rush out the door and will ask you to wait awhile while the cook fusses over that blue-plate special. A choice, you see.

It's nice to see that the book has been updated for the "new century," clearly it is a seminal work that gets at the root of the direction that our society is taking. For those readers who are troubled by mega-mergers and large corporations dumping toxins into lakes: this book provides the needed background information on how these globalizing systems develop and why.

My only caveat is that now the term "Wal-Mart-ization, is probably more apropos given the rapid expanse of this enterprise. Two reasons why Wal-Mart is more appropriate. First, McDonalds is merely one small department within a Wal-Mart. And secondly, Wal-Marts have a detrimental effect (debate this on your own if you like) on the local economy. McDonalds, rarely had the kind of economic impact on their environs as Wal-marts do. I understand that McDonalds came first, though - so okay.

There are other aspects that I'd like to see discussed in the book: 1. The factoid I've heard that countries with McDonalds don't go to war with each other; and 2. Is the deteriorating level of service at places like McDonalds indicative of a decline with something else in our society? I don't know what neighborhood Ritzer is from, but I wouldn't go in to the McDonalds near my college campus if you paid me. It also seems to be the place where the panhandlers are most prevalent. These would make for a nice epilogue to any new editions; I read the first.

In this second book, George Ritzer pushes his general thesis to extremes that become nearly absurd. To pretend that credit cards are a simulacra of money is true, but money is a simulacra of bartering. To reject credit cards because they are a simulacra is like rejecting the market place and that would make us go back to what ? When were commercial exchanges between people not using some tokens, some simulacra of the value of the exchanged goods ? But he even goes further : organized tourism or cruises are a simulacra of the discovery of a new territory. We can discuss the simplification such organized tourism brings, but should we go back to the old « tourism » of previous centuries and reintroduce colonialization, the genocide of encumbering populations, slavery, and some other side-effects (that were rather the direct objectives) of such adventures ? Same thing with Disneylands and other entertainment parks. They are only the development of the old fairs and festivals of previous centuries that took place on market day or on some special occasions, like carnivals and pilgrimages and some others. The only difference is that we can visit such parks all year around, and if some are intellectually limited, the number of those who go deeply into some topics are numerous, and, would I say, more and more numerous, presenting sciences, technology, history, geography, and many other topics. And the mass-basis of these make them cheap, a lot cheaper when we take into account the amount of subject matter. And we can have in a short period of time and in the same locale a tremendous amount of information that we could only have through long and tiresome research before. This leads us to the Internet. A simulacra of communication or research ? Certainly not. A new dimension of communication and research. It might be used in an underdeveloped way. But it does not have to be that and people are learning, provided schools, universities and social institutions lead them into it, incite them to do it. An interesting point of view but we must remain very alert not to be thrown into some kind of retrograde ideology. Would anyone ever think of rejecting the telephone as a simulacra of communication ? Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.

Ritzer has taken his popular McDonaldization theory and applied it to a host of specific topics, such as the university (and sociology in particular), the work force, leisure and other areas of life. He builds not just on his work but also on those who have taken his theory and built on it, as well as some of the masters in the social theory realm. For those who are interested in this theory, this is an invaluable addition to the body of work.

As a student in Norway, going on the course sociology, this was a great book to read. I`m going to have a review of this book at my course, in front of my professor , and the rest of my class. And i will only say good things about that book. The book contains good things about Max Weber, Karl Mannheim.

A another thing whit this book, is that Georg Ritzer is using easy words, good langue and its easy to understand.

I requment this book to all, either you are a student in sociology, or regular student. Even so if you arent a student, it is a good book to read,for to understand what is the McDonaldization thesis.

Gaute Aadnesen

Ritzer gives brief synoses of major theorists in this work. While his treatments are concise they are by no means complete. This study shoudl serve as a "jumping off" place for more in-depth studies on major theorists.

While this study may satisfy the "dabbler" in sociology, it is not highly recommended for serious scholarly study.

It is never an easy task to condense theory into a single, comprehensive textbook. Nevertheless, George Ritzer offers one of the best, if not THE best, options available. To say that this book is for "dabblers" only is misleading to those looking for an overview of sociological theory.

I used this book in its 4th edition as an undergraduate and I am very glad I kept it, because I used it extensively in my graduate theory class last semester. Ritzer makes it easy to understand and appreciate the classical theorists and I would highly recommend it as a good general book for students.

this has to be the most superficial and simplistic account on the new means of consumption; i.e., malls, theme parks, casinos, etc. it is hardly believable that ritzer takes in a seriuos manner his naive arguments, that in several occasions turn into pure idle talk, or worst pure stupidity. just to give one example, when he mentions that malls have their roots in the ancient greek and roman markets. although he states that his work is heavely influenced by the writtings of baudrillard he never explains in his matter why we consume in the first place. even worse, he never gives a concrete argumentation of why this world is disenchanted in the first place and why it has to be enchanted. so please do not make the same mistake that i did and do not buy this book. it is the first time that i have read something by this author but i think i had enough of him for the rest of my life. i might be a joy-killer to use the term of ritzer to describe an anthropologist but i least i am not as simplistic and stupid as he is.

Well, he even talks Amazon.com as a cathedral of consumption, and brings up such facts as doing what I am doing, reviewing books on amazon.com. I found it to be hypocritical for him to badmouth consumption so much, yet he profits from the things he badmouths, such as my purchase of his book at amazon.com He claims most are subject to consumption. Well, unless you go around naked, live in a cafe and eat sticks, everyone is. This book serves as a valuable tool to look into the methods of consumption that rule our daily lives, but don't get too caught up it how bad it is, consumption feeds the author and his family also.

Ritzer does a good job of awakening the average consumer to the explotation they are undergoing daily.