George Ritzer-The McDonaldization

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The McDonaldization Thesis

Explans and Exnsns

George Ritzer

SAGE Publications k N D

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© Geoge Ritze 18

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Contnts

Preace Vl

ntroducton McDonaldzation and Beyond

Part : Theretical ssues 1 6

2 Manneims eory o Ratonalization An AlteativeResource or te McDonaldzation ess? 1 6

3 e McDonaldzaton o Amercan Socology AMetasociologcal Analysis 35

Muncing) on McDonaldzation) o Socal eory 52

Part : The Expansin f McDnaldizatin 59

5 McJobs McDonaldization and Its Relationsp to te

Labor Process 596 McDonaldizaton e New American Menace" 7 7 lobalzation, McDonaldizaton and Amercanizaton 8 8 Credit Cards, FastFood Restaurants and Increasing

Rationalzaton 95

Part : The New Means f Cnsumptin 1 7

9 e New" Means o Consumption A Postmodern Analysis 1 171 0 McDisneyization" and Postourism" Complementary

Perspectves on Contemporary oursm 1 31 McUniversty in te Postmode Consumer Society 1 5 1 2 Dealing wt te New Means o Consumption 163

Part V: McDnadizatin Redux 17

1 3 Some Concludng ougts on te McDonaldzation esis 17

Reerences 92

Name Index 203

Subject Index 206



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Preface

Since te publication o te original edition o The McDonaldization of

Socie in 1993 I ave been invited to present a variety o papers on, orderived rom, te main tesis o tat book ose papers represent te basiso tis book wic bot explores and moves beyond te McDonadization

tesis o put it simply, tat tesis is tat te astood restaurant,especially te pioneering and still dominant cain o McDonald's restaurants, is te contemporary paradigm o te rationalization process As aresult, tat process can be dubbed te McDonaldization process Speareaded by, and modeled ater te ast-ood restaurant, we ave witnessed,are seeing, and are likely to continue to observe a continuation even anacceleration, o te rationalization process. McDonaldization involves anincrease in eciency, predictability, caculability and control troug tesubstitution o non-uman or uman tecnology Wile undoubtedly

bringing wit it many positive developments, McDonaldization also involves a wide range o irrationalities, especially deumanization andomogenization It is tese irrationalities o rationality and associatedproblems) wic represent te true eart o te McDonaldization tesis.

Wile te capters in tis book ad teir origins as a series oindependent essays eors ave been made to make tis olume mumore tan simply a set o reestanding essays on te McDonaldizationtesis For example, repetition o suc tings as te basic elements oMcDonaldization and te undamental irrationalities associated wit it ave

been eliminated werever possible In addition, tere is a logic to tecapters and te book in tat eorts to explore various aspects o teMcDonaldization tesis are olowed by a set o capters wic seek tomove beyond, and build upon, tat tesis. us, tis book represents botan extension o earlier ideas into a set o new domains and a platorm orplanned later work on te new means o consumption, one o wic iste ast-ood restaurant.

Cris Rojek, bot a ellow sociologist and sociology editor at SageLondon), as been instrumental in bringing tis book to ruition. Criss

dual roles make im a unique and particularly rewarding person to workwit. He is a valued advisor not only on te book business but also on temost advanced sociological ideas. It as been a pleasure working wit imon tis and related projects His broter, and cie aide, Robert Rojek as




vi Preface

elped in innmerable concrete ways trogot te corse o te writingStepen Barr now in overal carge o London operations or Sage epedto provide a spportive climate in wic tis book cod be completed.Finally I wold like to tank Alan Bryman o Logborog Universityor some very insigt comments on te rst drat o te book.




1

Introduction:McDonaldization and Beyond

Thi volume may well not be exactly what the reader i expectin. Thenature o the book, and the connotation o the title, miht lead one to believethat what will ollow i a erie o chapter extendin, deendin andapplyin the McDonaldization thei While there are everal chapter

devoted to extenion, jutication and application, thi book ha tuedout to be more o an odyey that radually build upon, but inexorablymove beyond, the McDonaldization thei. That i not to ay that I amabandonin that thei, but am uin it a a prinboard to deal with awider rane o ocial phenomena and iue.

Previouly, I have ocued on atood retaurant a a undamental pointo oriin o McDonaldization (althouh, a point out in The McDonaldiation of Socie (Ritzer, 1983, 1993, 996a), there were a number oprecuror to at-ood retaurant that played important role in the devel

opment o thi proce) I have alo dealt with credit card (in ExpressingAmerica Ritzer, 1995), not only a an example o McDonaldization, butalo in relation to a eneral et o problem aociated with them. A thibook evolve, the reader will come to reconize that I now ee both atood retaurant and credit card a but two pecic example o what I nowconceive o a the new mean o conumption," a cateory which aloinclude hoppin mall, mea-mall, upertore, home hoppin televiionnetwork, cybermall, inomercial, and many more A thi book proree, more and more attention will be devoted to the new mean oconumption, and at-ood retaurant and credit card will come to betreated a jut two o it manietation

Thi chane in ocu at the level o the ocioeconomic lie-world icloely related to a dramatic chane in my theoretical orientation Clearly,my previou work ha been tronly modeit I looked at at-oodretaurant and credit card a mode phenomenon and adopted modetheoretical perpective in examinin them or example, I ued Weber'theory o rationalization to examine at-ood retaurant and employedthat theory, a well a a number o other mode theorie (Simmel theoryo money, Mill conce with private trouble and public iue etc), to

analye credit card. even went o ar a to decribe credit card, andepecially at-ood retaurant, in term o a quinteentially mode randnarrative o McDonaldization While I am not echewin a modeitperpective in thee pae, I am explorin the utility o potmode




2 Intduction

theoetcal tool n analyng the new mean o conumpton am adoptngthe vew that one need not chooe between mode and potmode theoywe can ue both n ode to enhance ou undetandng o the ocal wold(Rtze 1997) The tlt n the decton o a potmode oentaton n theepage made neceay at leat n pat by the act that conumpton o

cloely ted to the potmode wold ndeed to many potmode ocety ia conume ocety (eathetone 1991) ocu on the new mean oconumpton call o a theoetcal pepectve well uted to analyngconumpton n the contempoay wold and potmode ocal theoy that pepectve

ll o th could be taken to mean that have come to thnk oMcDonaldzaton a a le momentou o an even an ngncant pocethat ubodnate to ome boade and moe mpotant tend That notwhat ntend to mply contnue to ee McDonaldzaton a a centally

mpotant poce that pet n gowng eponentally and n etendng teach n vaou doman o the ocal wold a well a geogaphc aeathoughout the globe am moe mpeed than eve by the duablty oMcDonaldzaton and by t capacty to adapt to new doman and ettngnd am even moe ghtened than eve by the negatve bypoduct oMcDonaldzaton the vaou atonalte o atonalty n hot mynteet n and conce about McDonaldzaton contnue unabated

Howeve th nteet ha led me n a ee o new decton dectonthat wll be detaled a th book unold now ee that McDonaldzaton

no t only mpotant n t own ght but t alo ntmately elated to a eeo othe development o geat mpotance to mecan ocety and thewld n amnng th and hw th lat t McDnaldatn adawn n a vaety o theoetcal decton But agan the analy theeothe development ung deent theoetcal tool hould not be taken tomean that omehow have come to ee McDonaldzaton a a legncant poce poblem and theoetcal oentaton

Th chapte wll be both an ntoducton to a ew o the majo theme nthe chapte to ollow and an oppotunty to eect on ome o themplcaton o the McDonaldzaton the Howeve nce the chapte gowell beyond the McDonaldzaton the th ntoducton wll alo ange aand wde both empcally and theoetcally

The theoetcal tatng pont o the McDonaldzaton the o couethe wok o Ma Webe on atonalzaton ndeed McDonaldzaton can beeen a an eot to modenze" Webe atonalzaton the The ue othe tem McDonaldzaton eect my convcton that the atood etauant athe than Webe' bueaucacy (and the poce o bueaucatzaton) the bette paadgm o that poce n the contempoay wold Webe'wok povde a ch eouce o anyone nteeted n the atonalzaton

poce and that chne geaty enhanced by a lage and gowng bodyo wok by neoWebean

Howeve athe than uthe eplong the wok o Webe and the neoWebean have opted n Chapte 2 to eploe the mplcaton o Kal




MDonaldization and Beyond 3

Mannhem' thnkng on atonalzaton o the MDonaldzaton the.hee ae thee eaon o th. t a geat deal ha aleady been donewth the Webean legay and the etu on ou nvetment would lkely bemnmal Seond thee ae deep poblem and poound ambgute nWebean theoy that make uthe gan poblemat. nally Mannhem

dd a a amount o wok on th ue and t eman a elatvely untappedeoue. Whle a numbe o ue ae dued n Chapte 2 the motmpotant o ou pupoe the ethnkng o the MDonaldzaton theom the vantage pont o Mannhem theoy o atonalzaton and theoneptual aenal he developed to deal wth that poe.

Whle Mannhem ha a geat deal to oe to one nteeted n MDonaldzaton h wok not an unmed bleng. On the negatve de the atthat h ealy dea bea lttle eemblane to and even ontadt h latemoe ully developed oneptualzaton. hu he doe not oe a oheent

theoetal pepetve; one that developed ove the oue o h wok n alea and ontent manne. H ealy dea on atonalzaton lead thehola nteeted n MDonaldzaton n one deton whle the late deawould lead n qute a deent deton. nothe poblem taeable to theat that Mannhem' thnkng deeply embedded n the dupton andhao aoated wth the Depeon the e o Nazm and Wold Wa IIH theoy o htoally pe that t doe not tavel well and thee aegave poblem when one attempt to apply t to the ontempoay wold.o eample Mannhem plaed geat mpotane on atonal entalzed

plannng a the oluton to the atonal hao and dode though whhhe had lved. Howeve what Mannhem aled to eognze (and Webe hadundetood) that uh atonal entalzed plannng an be the auepehap even the pme aue o atonalty epeally the vaou atonalte o atonalty.

oblem ade Mannhem doe oe dea that enhane ou thnkngabout MDonaldzaton o eample n the tem o h late theozng theuntonal atonalzaton that would be aoated wth a poe lkeMDonaldzaton poe a theat to ubtantal atonalty o the ablty tothnk ntel lgently n th I thnk that Mannhem gettng at a majo apeto the dehumanzaton aoated wth MDonaldzaton. hat MDonaldzed ytem (though ule egulaton pt and o on) doenoah upon and ultmately theaten the ablty o thoe nvolved n themto thnk ntellgently. It lealy dehumanzng to nd oneel mndlelyuntonng lke a obot o an automaton n a MDonaldzed ytem.

Mannhem way o dealng wth dehumanzaton a neate and leambguou than Webe' appoah n whh omal atonalty een atheatenng the human value he aoate wth ubtantve atonalty heundamental poblem n Webe' appoah that the noton o human

value ambguou. It an enompa not only potve value lke love ohumanty but alo negatve value lke aal upeoty. hu one wouldnot neealy bemoan the lo o human value (ay thoe aoated wthNazm) but vtually eveyone would agee that the lo o the ablty to




4 Intduction

thnk o oneel a hman dae Whle Webe eem ltmately topee btantve to oma atonaly n ome cae the domnance oomal atonalty peeable. o eample Gemany and the wold woldhave been a bette o the nconally atonal beacacy had not comende the conto o the Naz and the vale ytem bt ntead had

cceeded n ppeng thoe vale and contolng not detoyng theNaz themelve

In addton to the dea o nctona and btantal atonalzatonMannhem develop the concept o elatonalzaton and elobevaton hee epeent hghe om o atonalzaton n whch peoplecome to contol themelve bette ahe than beng eteally contoled.hee dea lke the othe oeed by Mannhem ae not nambgoyel n thnkng abot the contempoay wod On the one hand they donot meh well wth the poce o McDonaldzaton at eat a a a

employee o ch ytem ae concened. Sch employee ae adeqatelycontolled thogh nctonal atonalty thee ttle need o o nteetn havng them engage n elatonazaton and elobevaton. Howeve whle the clentctome/paton o McDonaldzed ytem ae alobject to the contant o nctonal atonalty thee is a need n thecae to pplement that contol wth elatonazaton and elobevaton So thee concept ae hepl bt cetany not n the way thatMannhem magned.

ntead o the cental ocetalwde plannng envoned by Mannhem

we have een the emegence o cental pannng wthn pecc doman othe oca wod. Scce chan lke McDonad' do a geat dea ocenta pannng and ee condeabe conto ove he ancheeemployee and ctome. he act that whe ch plannng naow andoced t ndobtedy eet a moe conto and a moe eectvethan the knd o conto magned by Mannhem

h o coe bng back o a Webean mage o the Wete woldn whch thee ae atonalzed ecto bt not a ecto ae atonalzed (ateat to a hgh degee) o t poble o the ndvdal to ecape at tme.h why Webe peeed captalm to ocalm whch he eaed wodpodce a gand allencompang on cage om whch ecape wampoble. Howeve Webe oeaw a te o captalm n whch moeand moe ecto o ocety wold all nde the way o atonalzatonecape wold become nceangly dclt ntl we tmatey ondoeve n an on cage. he cage that Webe magned cently bengcontcted bt t not beng blt al at once a the commnt n vaonaton ted to do and aled Rathe vao oganzaton and ntttonae ollowng the McDonad model and each a a elt addng a ba tothe emegng cage he on cage beng bt pece by pece athe than allat once bt t beng b lt. themoe beng blt n th way t may betonge moe ecapepoo than even Webe magned.

Chapte 3 nvolve among othe thng an applcaton o the McDonaldzaton the to a mot nkey etng the ed o ocology Whle we




McDonaldization and Beyond 5

nd t eay to undetand that at-ood etauant o hotel o amuementpak have been McDonaldzed the dea that an academc eld lkeocology (and ocology cetanly not the only academc eld to undegoth poce) ha been McDonaldzed eem had to accept te allacadema hould be one o the doman that ought to be mmune to o able

to et McDonaldzaton he act that t (a well a medcne (Rtzeand Walczak 1988) and law) ha been McDonaldzed demontate thepowe and each o the poce Th not to ay that ocology habecome as McDonaldzed a ay at-ood etauant but t ha becomeMcDonaldzed to ome degee h emnd u o the mpotant pontthat McDonaldzaton not an all-o-nothng poce; thee ae degee oMcDonaldzaton

h vaaton can take a numbe o om t the boadet level thee aedeence n the oveall degee o McDonaldzaton Moe naowly thee

vaaton n the degee o ecency (hghly ecent to necent)pedctablty (cetan to completely unpedctable) calculablty (completelyeducble to numbe to totally qualtatve) and contol (ully contollable touncontollable) In addton the atonalte o atonalty can ange omtotally atonal to hadly any atonalte at all

Wthn ocology theoy one o the leat lkely element to beMcDonaldzed yet t too ha undegone that poce at leat to ome etentWe have hee anothe demontaton o the epanonm nheent nMcDonaldzaton It elatvely eay to undetand how tattcally o

ented empcal eeach can be McDonaldzed (t pacttone ae attactedto tandadzed method and technque; t moe team oented) It aloeay to ee why tetbook n ocology (and evey othe eld) all pey toMcDonaldzaton But ocologcal theoy? In't ceatve theozng nheently ae om the mndnumbng outne o McDonaldzaton? Clealythe anwe no and the act that t not demontate how that poceweep though one doman ate anothe not only the unlkely eld oocology but the even moe unlkely ub-eld o ocologcal theoy

nothe apect o the epanonm o McDonaldzaton t movementom t mecan oot nto othe naton We wll encounte th ue

agan oon and n Chapte 4 t aume cente tage n the om o adcuon o the conce aed by a Geman ocal theot RchadMnch about the McDonaldzaton o Euopean ocal theoy gan theem upng mecan ocal theoy would appea to be mmune toMcDonaldzaton but one mght ague that well t mecan andtheeoe moe pone to all vctm to th qunteentally mecandeae" But Euopean epecally Geman ocal theoy? How could atadton that nclude uch llutou thnke a Ma Netzche WebeSmmel and Habema be theatened by McDonaldzaton? Yet Mnch

hmel a noted contempoay Geman ocal theot ea jut uch apoce and acknowledge that t ha aleady occued to ome degeegan one bought ace to ace wth the queton omethng lkeGeman ocal theoy not ae om McDonaldzaton then what ?




6 Intdution

The anwe, o oue, that nothng ae om MDonaldzaton along a thee ae mateal nteet that puh t and tand to benet om tepanon n oal theoy, t the mean eato o what Mnh alltandadzed" theoy who tand to gan powe, petge and nuene theot thoughout the wold ome to pate theoy n that way It they

who would beome the leade o th wold oa theoy they who wouldbeome elebte nvted to letue aound the globe on the gloe o theappoah Moe typally, t eonom nteet that mpel MDonaldzaton Thoe who puh t tand to make money, even gow abuloulywealthy, they an epot MDonaldzaton to pevouly untouhedeto o oety o aea o the wold The only eal bae to MDonaldzaton a lak o eoue on the pat o thoe who ae not MDonaldzedI thoe puhng MDonaldzaton have nothng to gan n etan aea, thenthey wll not puue t n thoe doman The pooet aea n the wold, and

the oal venue wth lttle to oe, eman, at leat o the tme beng, aeom MDonaldzaton Howeve, a the mot ewadng aea beomeatuated by the poe one an envon a tme when even the mpovehed doman wll eem attatve new venue

Whle thoe ympathet to the MDonaldzaton the (and theebyentve to the atonalte o MDonaldzaton) mght applaud theabene o the poe n thee mpovehed" aea, we hould not gnoethe at that the denzen o uh aea may well eel depved by theabene o MDonaldzaton te all, t ha ome to be omethng that

valued n all eto o oety and thoughout the wold Thoe who havenot been aeted ae lkey to lamo o the MDonaldzaton o theoete Howeve that not lkely to ou, at leat n the hot n ountl uh tme a they ae n a poton to make t wothwhle to the oethat mpel the poe

Thee no onpay beng mpled hee eade om vaou aenaae not meetng n eet at Hambuge Unvety to plot the net move nthe epanon o MDonaldzaton Rathe, a numbe o deent ndvdual, goup and oganzaton have ndependently ome to eognzethat they tand to pot handomely om the epanon and epotaton o

MDonaldzaton n puung the elnteet, they ae uthengMDonaldzaton

muh e ountentutve applaton o the MDonaldzaton thethan thoe made to oology and oal theoy nvolve the job and thelabo poe dued n Chapte 5. Cealy, the MDonaldzaton poelead to the eaton o what an be temed MJob" Suh oupaton aemot obvouly ound n atood etauant and mla han, but theyae alo beng ound neangly thoughout the wok wold moe andmoe eto ae MDonaldzed, they eek to atonalze the wok that take

plae wthn them Th bng u moe boadly to a onen wth the labopoe and the lteatue that deal wth that ue, mot notably thetadton baed on the thnkng o Kal Ma and ate Hay Baveman majo weakne n th lteatue t naow ou on the labo poe





McDonadization permits us to overcome that weakness b examining theabor process within the context of a arger socia process

Such a perspective aows us to shed new ight on the abor process orexampe, Braverman and his foowers have tended to focus on the roepaed b manageria contro in the abor process However, McDonad

ization tends to emphasize other kinds of contro or exampe, sinceMcDonadiation and its vaious components have become part of the argervaue sstem, potentia empoees have inteaized man of its expectationsong before the take a Mcob The know what the are expected to do and,what is more, the beieve in it As a resut, there is reative itte need formanagers to contro them. More impotant, McDonadized sstems buidcontro into various non-human technoogies It is these technoogies, notmanagers, that contro empoees Under this heading we can incude suchtechnoogies as the drink dispensers that shut o automatica when a cup

is fu and the french-fr machines that automatica i baskets out of thehot oi when the fries reach just the right degree of crispiness With suchtechnoogies, there is reative itte need for direct conto b managers

But perhaps the major contribution of the McDonadiation thesis to ourunderstanding of the abor process is the fact that it reveas how patrons/customers/cients have become part of the abor process in McDonadizedsstems We can no onger make a cea distinction between worker andpatron. Patrons have become unpaid workers who perform tasks that woudotherwise have to be done b paid empoees. And since the ae part of our

McDonadized societ the, ike paid workers, genera know what isexpected of them and the genera do it eg disposing of their own debrisater a mea) In fact, the do it arge on their own, wiing, even amostjoous Through the McDonadization process the capitaist has created anew secondar workforce to be expoited in order to enhance prots In fact,the expoitation of customers great exceeds that of workers Workers mustbe paid at east a minimum wage that serves to reduce the owner's prots.ustomers are paid nothing and evething the can be cajoed into doingserves to increase protabiit

n hapters 6 and 7 the focus shifts to other ke aspects of the expansionof McDonadization under the headings of Americaniation and gobaization McDonadization is certain not the rst process associated with theUnited States that has eicited antiAmerican feeings throughout much ofthe word, especia Europe. In fact, there is a ong tradition of a powerfuovehate reationship with the United States and its most distinctiveproducts. To some, the become targets of anti-Americanism whie the areeager adopted b man others A good exampe of a predecessor toMcDonadization is the interest in, and conce over, coca-cooniation thatoccurred in rance in the 940s Kuise, 1993). Here was another American

product that was feared and revied b man, but utimate embraced b aarge proportion of the rench popuation

However, McDonadization does represent something quite new in termsof the threat it poses to other cutures In the past, threats have come from




8 Introduction

either distinctive American products (ike oca-ola) or from Americanbusiness practices (eg. those associated with rederick W Talor andscientic management). Unike most of its predecessors McDonald's embodies both threats simultaneousl. t threatens to swamp Europe (and theother continents) with Big Macs and it brings with it a series of innovations

in business practices (eg. new was of managing the labor process ofrunning a huge inteational operation with a minimal central organization) .urthermore it is introducing not just a particular set of foods but muchmore importantl the distinctivel American wa of eating the idea thatfood is something to be consumed as quickl efcientl and inexpensivelas possible. Eating is at the heart of most cultures and for man it issomething on which much time attention and mone are lavished nattempting to alter the wa peope eat McDonaldization poses a profoundthreat to the entire cutural compex of man societies. t is little wonder that

McDonad's and its man clones have become a focus of anti-AmericanismWhat is more surprising is that so man people in so man societies are soeager to embrace McDonalds and the process it epitomizes

Globalization raises similar issues as well as a number of distinctiveones. Gobalization theor has been characterized b its focus on largelautonomous global processes and its adherents have argued that these havebecome far more important than the practices of an given nation orgeographic territor Theorists associated with this perspective have beenespeciall eager to downpla the role of the United States and the West in

general in global processes Related to this has been a rejection ofmodernization theor with its interest in the was in which nations throughout the world seek to modeize b emulating the highl developed Westenations

However the McDonaldization process points to the fact that gobalizationtheorists have overone it and ignored the continuing importance of a givennation in this case the United States and its economic and cultural productsMcDonaldiation is at least to this point a arge one-wa process in whicha series of American innovations are being aggressivel exported to much of

the rest of the world. While there will undoubtedl come a time when othernations produce arge numbers of McDonaldized products and sstems of theirown at the moment these represent bare a trickle n our rush to emphasizeindependent global processes the McDonaldization thesis indicates the continuing importance of a single nation (the United States) as well as ofAmericanization and Westeization.

At one level hapter 8 is a straightforward appication of the McDonaldization thesis to credit cards The fundamental argument is that credit cardshave McDonaldized the process of obtaining and expending loans More

important at least from the point of view of this book is the fact that it ishere that we begin the move awa from a consideration of McDonaldizationper se and toward an interest in the new means of consumption While it isan extremel useful idea (at least to me) McDonadization does not exhaust





wha we can sa abou asood resaurans and i onl scraches he suraceas ar as credi cards are conceed.

Beond being he paradigm or McDonaldizaion, he as-ood resauranis also one o he new means o consumpion eading people o consumeood in new and dieren was The credi card is even more signican in

his respec. Like he asood resauran, he credi card leads o new anddieren modes o consumpion. Bu whie here is a limied number ooods one can consume in a as-ood resauran, he credi card permis heconsumpion o an unlimied range o goods and services. n ac, he credicard migh beer be seen as a mea-means o consumpion, permiingpeople o use all means o consumpion n his sense, he credi card is arand awa he mos imporan o he new means o consumpion.

n haper 9 we deal explicil wih he wide range o new means oconsumpion To he as-ood resauran and he credi card are now added

shopping malls, mega-malls, elevision shopping neworks and cbermalls.America, which is he source o he as-ood resauran and he credi card,is also he primar source o viruall all o he oher new means oconsumpion The Unied Saes has gone rom being he word eader ininnovaions in producion o dominaing he world in erms o he creaion onew means o consumpion And jus as a one ime i sough o dominaehe worlds producion, i now seeks o conrol worldwide consumpion b,among oher hings, creaing and exporing hese new means o consumpion. The creaion and exporaion o asood resaurans and credi cards ispar o his wide-ranging process.

producion is associaed wih modern socie, consumpion, as we haveseen, is oen considered he hallmark o posmode socie. Wheher or nohis asserion is correc, i leads us o a consideraion o posmode socialheor as a wa o looking a hese new means o consumpion. This is noo sa ha he canno be analsed rom a modern poin o view; indeed hais wha is done in he rs egh chapers o hs book However, s alsopossible o analse all o he new means o consumpion rom a posmodeperspecive and ha is jus wha is underaken in haper 9 (and hroughoumuch o he res o he book) Modern and posmode social heor can

complemen one anoher b leading o dieren kinds o insighs ino hesame socia phenomena

A number o posmode ideas are emploed in his anasis To ake oneexample, he new means o consumpion are well characerized as whaBaudrillard and oher posmodeiss call simulacra. Tha is, insead oreal" human ineracion and auhenic producs, he new means oconsumpion end o be characerized b simuaed ineracions and producs. Thus, he people who serve us in as-ood resaurans, on he phone onbehal o our credi card companies, in he malls and as elemarkeers are

all, as a general rule, ineracing wih us in an inauhenic wa Thelikelihood is ha he have been asked o memorize a series o scrips andsubscrips and mindlessl recie hem a appropriae poins in heir ineracion wih us or our par as parons, we undersand wha he are doing




0 Intduction

and we respond by developing a set of mindless recipes Schutz 92/967that we trot out and use in such situations nteraction is taking place but itis a simulation and certainly not what we usually think of as genuine humaninteraction

Much the same thing can be said about the goods and services offered by

the new means of consumption A perfect eample of a simulated product isMcDonalds hicken McNugget The eecutives at McDonalds have determined that the authentic chicken with its skin gristle and bones is simplynot the kind of product that McDonald's ought to be selling; hence thecreation of the hicken McNugget which can be seen as inauthentic as asimulacrum There is no real or even original hicken McNugget; theyare and can only be simulacra Services can also be simulated oreample at chains like H&R Block employees offer ta advice and ll outta forms often on the basis of a brief training course n comparison to

what may be obtained from a tained and eperienced accountant they canbe seen as oering a simulated ta servicehapter 0 etends this analysis to a specic sub-type of the new means

of consumption what might be called the new means of tourism have inmind here such things as Disney World and other amusement parks cruiselines and Las Vegastype hotelcasinos Once again we are in a world inwhich the United States has been a pioneer n addition we are in a worldthat is amenable not only to mode but also to postmode analysis Andfrom a postmode perspective the new means of tourism are like the newmeans o consumption well described as simulacra

This is nowhere clearer than in Disney World Here virtually all of therides and attractions unabashedly offer simulations of what was once andstill may be) available in the real world urthermore the employees atDisney Wold like thei brethren employed by the other new means ofconsumption (and tourism) interact with us in a simulated inauthentic wayThat is they follow scipts and have been thoroughly schooled in how tointeract with visitors Not only is Disney a perfect eample of the newmeans of tourism but it has played the same kind of role in tourism thatMcDonald's plays in consumption That is its success has made it the

paradigm within the tourist realm As a result it is possible to talk of theMcDisneyization" of tourism

The idea of the new means of consumption is etended still further inhapter to what has been termed McUniversity" Parker and Jary 995;Prichard and Willmott 996. Students and their parents are increasinglyapproaching the university as consumers in much the same way that theyapproach the new means of consumption like mega-malls They are lookingfor things like low price convenience efciency absence of hassles and soon The university is being conceived of as a means of educational

consumption The problem is that the university is a creaky highly traditional institution that pales in comparison to all of the sparkling new meansof consumption Potential applicants and their parents are comparing theuniversity to these new means and it is generally being found wanting





With shrinking resources universities are growing desperate to attract andretain students. To do so the are going to have to nd a variet of newproducts and techniques While the could theoreticall create man of theseon their own the likelihood is that the will seek to lea from the highlsuccessfu new means of consumption. or example universit ofcials are

leaing a lesson learned long ago b leaders of man of these new meansInstead of sitting back and waiting for students the are nding it necessarto go where the students are or example following the model of successfulchains more and more universities are opening satellite campuses ofen insuburban areas or smaller towns not well served b a central universit.These satellites ma be found in industrial parks and shopping malls andthe adopt man of the trappings of the new means of consumption e.g.plent of close-in parking so that students can get in and out quickl)Similarl universities are using some of the advanced technolog associated

with the new means of consumption especiall television home shoppingnetworks and cbermalls) b beaming courses to television sets or computers in satellite campuses or even in student homes. Thus like Dominosuniversities are increasingl in the business of home deliver. Instead ofpizzas the are delivering an education)

Obviousl such developments serve to radicall alter the nature of botheducation and teaching Sitting in a satellite classroom or at home andstaring at a TV or computer screen is a ver different educational experiencefrom interacting directl with a professor in a classroom Similarl teaching

b TV or computer involves a variet of ver different skills and abilitiesWhile a few teachers ma become media superstars most are likel to seetheir positions become more like Mcobs or example satellite campusesma emplo part-tie poorl paid adjuncts to lead class discussionsfollowing the video transmission of a superstars lecture

en conveed in all of this is a sense not onl of enormous socialchange but also of a series of social problems associated with these changes.hapter is devoted to a discussion of various methods of coping with thenew means of consumption I have dealt with this issue in the past from a

mode point of view in terms of coping with problems associated with fastfood restaurants credit cards and other McDonaldized sstems However apostmode perspective appears to pose problems to one interested inresponses to problematic situations. This is traceable to the fact thatpostmodeists are often seen as nihilistic and nihilists have little or nointerest in coping mechanisms.

However it tus out that postmode social theor is a useful source ofrather unusual ideas about responding to the new means of consumption orexample it can be argued that the problem with the new means is that the

are disenchanted. So it is necessar to bring some enchantment to themInstead of the mechanical exchange of goods for mone we are urged toengage in a genuine human and trul reciprocal exchange with those whoserve us A wide range of things need to be exchanged including feelings




1 2 Intdution

and emotons) and such an echange needs to be contnuous and recprocal.Another possbt would be to heap gfts upon those who work n the newmeans of consumpton sed to gvng out goods and servces the areunlkel to know how to respond to recevng gfts Such gfts brng a newenchanted dmenson to relatonshps wthn these settngs

n the concudng chapter we retu to a focal conce wth the process ofMcDonaldzaton. Several new ssues are rased ncludng the possblt thatwe ma alread be wtnessng the de-McDonaldzaton of socet. Thenthere s a dscusson of the reatonshp between McDonaldzaton and socalstratcaton on the bass of class race gender and age Also consdered sthe relatonshp between McDonaldzaton and commercalzaton The bookconcludes wth a dscusson of the fate of McDonadzaton n a postmodesocet.

A good dea of substantve ground s covered n ths book as we move

from fast-food restaurants to the means of consumpton from McDonaldzaton to the mplcatons of those new means for the socal world and back).At another level ths book s a oue through man of the leadng deas nsocologcal and soca theor t s a theoretca and even n some paces ametatheoretcal odsse. Whle ths ma sound surprsng gven the hghlapped and downto-earth character of The MDonaldization of Soiety aswel as Expreing Ameria from a derent vantage pont t s perfectlconsstent wth most of m other work whch has been hghl theoretcaland metatheoretcal Rtzer 19751 980, 198 , 1 991 ) The folowng aresome of the maor theoretca ssues dealt wth n ths book

• he deas o a classc but oten gnored socal theorst Karl Mannhem are revved and analsed metatheoretcall for what the can teus about McDonaldzaton.

• The concept of McDonaldzaton s used as the bass for a metasocoogca analss of the dscplne as a whole and a metatheoretcalanalss of Amercan and European socal theor

• Mcromacro and agencstructure theor s used speccall n the

form of Wrght Mllss conce wth prvate troubes and pubcssues to analse problems assocated wth credt cards

• The MarBraverman theor of the labor process s re-eamned n ghtof the rse of McJobs assocated wth McDonadzed sstems.

• Theores of Amercanzaton and globalzaton are eamned n lght ofthe McDonaldzaton thess.

• All of the mode theoretca perspectves enumerated above are supplemented b the use of postmode soca theor to analse the new meansof consumpton toursm and educaton.

In one wa or another ths book not onl touches on some centramportant developments n the socal world but n dong so also draws uponand engages man of the most mportant theoretcal deas of the da




McDonaldiation and Beyond 1 3

"Methdlgical Nte

A socia scientist reading this book wi note that the format is much ike thatof a traditiona academic monograph Such a reader with a theoretica bentwi notice that there are citations to some of the most dense and sophisti

cated works in socia theor However what is cear missing to even themost casua observer is a series of citatons to socia scientic research onthe topics deat with in these pages That s not because bear some animusin reation to such work but rather because there is itte or no scientic"research into the topics being deat with here Scientica oriented sociaresearchers have tended not to be interested in the kinds of topics discussedin these pages Reative itte attention has been paid to topics ike fastfood restaurants or credit cards The more genera issue of consumption hasreceived a ot more attention but not b Americans, especia those with a

strong socia scientic orientation The socioog of consumption is dominated b European socia scientists especia those from Great Britain. Andthe tend not to approach the issue of consumption from the kind ofpositivistic standpoint so popuar in Amercan socia science

There is great iron here The Unted States is the driving force in wordconsumption and the instigator of most of the major changes in it HoweverAmerica's socia scientists have devoted virtua no attention to the issuethat is virtua the dening characteristic of contemporar Americansociet This inattention is certain true of the major topics deat with here

fast-food restaurants credit cards and the other new means of consumption shopping mas and cruise ines for exampe) Accounting for whAmerican socia scientists have ignored these questions and consumptionmoe genera woud pobab require a book in itsef Two factors seemmost obvious First American socia scientists ike other Americans ive inhe mds o he consume soce nd hve theeoe become desensied oit as a socia phenomenon and issue Those in other nations tend to see it asa foreign intrusion even invasion with origins in the United States so aremore ike to be sensitive to even jarred b changes in the word of

consumption Aer a man of those changes represent high Americanincursions into their indigenous cutures

This point is beautifu iustrated b the cover painting on the zechtransation of The McDonaldization of Society. It depicts a tank in the formof a giant cheeseburger on whees sporting a cannon against the backgroundof an ancient European town studded wth steepes The sk is an ominousred The tank" is rumbing down a cobbestone street both sides of whichare ined with peope amed with swords Most of the peope are cones aare wearing dark gasses) and the are eaning on their swords which are

pointing down to the ground The have cear surrendered to the invasiondo the dak gasses imp that the are bnd to the invasion)?) if notcoaborating with the enem The on signs of resistance are a seemingpregnant woman brandishing a sword above her head and a barking dog




Intduction

sraning a a leash held b a lile girl would be dfcul o envision sucha depicion on he cover of an Aerican version of McDonaldiation

Second opics lke consupion and ore specicall fas-food resaurans and credi cards see oo rivial" o os Aerican social scieniss.The serious quesions n he econoic real have since he incepon of

he discipline revolved around he issue of producion Exaples includeMarx on he capialss and heir workers Weber on he effec of heProesan Ehic on prodcers and workers and Durkhei on he divison oflabor While an European socia scieniss have been able o overcoehis producivis bias his has no been rue of he vas aori of heirAerican counerpars

One would hope for ore such socal scienic research (no onlAerican bu hroughou he world) ino he ssues of conce in his book.However even if here s ore research of his pe i is sill lkel o pla

a secondar role in an works ha reseble his one Tha is because of hefac a leas par ha akes oo long for a social sciens o denif aproble wihin hs (or an) doain plan a research proec prepare asbission for (and hopefull ge) a research gran carr ou he researchanalse he resuls wrie he up have an aricle acceped b a joual andhen uliael publshed and hopefull read The opical naure of hesubecs deal wih hroughou his book akes i necessar ha one dealwh te os recen developens Research aricles and even worseresearch onographs are no good vehicles for leaing abou he os

recen developens in he social world and especiall n he doansanalsed hrougho hese pages As a resl a good deal of he aerial forhs boo co o a plca ppula agains andnewspapers. How can such quesonable joualsic works ield a projec owhch an selfrespecing socal scienis would give an credence?

The os posivsic of researchers would of course accord such a worklle if an signcance However obviousl do hink i has uch ereven soe social scenc ili n an case i sipl could no be donefor he reasons dscussed above if one were o rel on scienic researchOne who wans o do his kind of work especiall f one wans o rangebroadl us rel on he kinds of oualsc sources eploed hereHowever hose sources are no being used as resources for or saeens offac Raher he are being used o keep one abreas of infored abo heos recen developens n he social world. The are eploed asndcaors of various developens and no as sources of he ruh" abouhe.

These daa" are aerial on which o heorize abou he socal worldespecial l ver recen developens in he real of consupon Thus hsbook is no necessaril abou rh" is priaril a heoreical analss of

he changing naure of he socal world as repored b and lered hroughhe ainl popular sources eploed here. Neiher socal heor nor popularsources o sa nohng of her cobined use is abou ruh The are aboucreaing perspecves ha oer new and hopefull profound insighs ino he





nature of the social world. McDonaldization is one such perspective, butman others are developed throughout hese pages such as McDisneization" and the new means of consumpion." The success of these ideas, andthose like them, depends upon whethe the reader, and ultimatel the largerschoar communit, nds them insightfu, useful, and perhaps even the

basis for social scientic research. Works like these are to be judged b theirtheoretical output and not b the nature of the empirical input

Ntes

1 Mannhei co of couse be consiee n soe senses a neoWebean2 n a vey ea sense it co be ague tha s he Mconaize sectos ha ae tuy

ipoveishe.3 he Fo Moto Copany a the t of the twenteth centy pose a siia oube

baee theat (Fo atoobies an Fost bsness pactces but Fo cas pove fa essobe than Mconas habges

tsef a siation in this ea of factoy fang.5 Las Vegas is anohe such paag an as we wi see one heas ta these ays of the

as Vegasization of vaios aspects of the soca wo. Geoge Rite Mcdoaldiac spolcosti. Paha: Cech Repbic 1.7 The ajo exception aong the cassc theosts to this is Geog Se an hs wok on

isses ie oney an the agey of cte boh of which can be seen as having ch oeto o with consuption than poction. Veben of cose wo be anohe excepion, buthe is no say accoe the staus gante o Max Webe uhe an Se.




THEORETCAL ISSUES

2

Mannhem' s Theory of Ratona zatonAn Aternatve Resorce for the

McDonaldzaton Thess?

Ma Webers ( 92958 92968) theor o rationaliation les at thebase o the McDonaldiation thesis (Kalberg 980 Levine 98 ) Whlethat theor provides a ich esource there are reasons wh one ight want tolook elsewhere or additional theoretical inspration or one thing Weberwas ar ro clea about the rationaliaton pocess One needs to etact asense o what he eant b it ro soe oten vague denitions o concepts

as well as ro his divese even dvergent analses o the various was inwhich rationaaton plaed itse out n a varet o doains (religonpoli w i and o on o another the weath o Weberan theohas been eploited to a large degree and urthe returns on ones investentare like to dnish inall eplorations o other elevant theoretcalresources ight at this point pove ar ore rutul in ters o deepeningour understandng o rationaliation and McDonaldaton

he theor that suggests tsel ost strong is Karl Mannheis thinkngon rationalit and ationaation Mannhe s work is based at east n part

on Webers deas (as well as on another undeutied resource Siesthinking on rationalit (ue 986» but it also goes beond the incertain was n this chapter I want to eane Mannheis thinking aboutrationaiation contrast it to Webers where necessar and eplore the wasin which it does o does not enich our understanding o the McDonaldiation process

Mannheim's Early Thinking n Ratinalizatin

In deology and Uopa ( 99936) Mannhei oered a gross dstnctionbetween rationait and rrationalit which he both rened and altereddraatcall in his later wok his earl thinking is reviewed here ore asbackground to and contast o what is to coe in a discussion o




Mannheim Theo of Raionaliaion 7

Mannheims later work than for its importance to our foca concerns i n thischapter.

At this early stage he rational sphere of society was dened as consisting of settled and routinized procedures in dealing with situations that recurin an orderly fashion" Mannheim, 929/ 96 ) Such setted and

routinied procedures are a central component o McDonaldizationMcDonaldied systems generally insttute such procedures in order tocontrol what employees, customers and many ohers e.g. suppliers) do Andthose procedures eist in order to deal with recurrent situations eg theordering of goods or services by customers) o take one eample thefollowing is the original McDonald's procedure for cooking hamburgers:

Grill m . wr nrud o pu amburgrs do o gi movig from o ig, caig w of pais ac Ad bcas rs o ros fars om aig lm y r nrud (ad sil ar o ip

id ro s, fou f ad six bo ippig s oLov 1986: 1 iaics addd

Employees who folow these procedures are behaving rationay at least interms of Mannheim's early sense of such behavior

Mannheim denes the irrational sphere residually the irrational must bethose domains in which there is an abene of settled, routinized proceduresfor dealing with recurrent situations Again, from the contemporary perspective McDonaldization given its association with such proceduresserves to reduce and ul imately eliminate irational domains he objective is

to create more and more such procedures to cover as many recurrentsituations as possible In Weberian terms the construction of the iron cageof raionality would be complete when all such situations are covered byprocedures) hat irrationality which persists is mos likey to be found innonrecuent situations as well as more generally in ess and nonMcDonaldied sectors of society

Mannheim ( 99/96 5) made it cear that at least in his day theirrational spheres continued to predominate over the rational sectors ofsociety: raionalized as our life may seem to have become all therationaliaions that have taken pace so far are merely partial since the mostimportant realms of our social ife are even now anchored in the irrational"While this may sill be true, the progress of McDonaldiation indicates thatthe irrational sphere has been reduced, at least to some degree sinceMannheim wrote

Mannheim discussed severa sectors in which he felt irrationality continued to predominate he economy was still dominated by what heconsidered to be irrational free competiton. Similarly in the straticationsystem ones place contnued to be determned by irrational competition andstruggle not by rational objective ests that decided one's position within

tha system. And in politics, rational planning had not yet been able toeliminate the irrational struggle for dominance at the national and international evels. or Mannheim the solution to the problem of irrationalitylay in greaer panning Planning would provide the routinized and settled




8 Theoretal e

proceures (as well as he objecive ess neee in he sraicaion ssem)ha woul make greaer raionalizaion possible. While Mannheim washinking abou cenral planning McDonalize ssems involve much morealbei far less cenralize planning han nonMcDonalze aleaives anhereb limi irraionali more efecivel.

While he irraonal coninues o preominae Mannheim seems o impl(as o wih he McDonaizaion hesis) ha raionalizaion is a processha has invae various secors of soce an ha ohers are like o comeuner is swa n he fuure n oher wors he irraional is ikel o rereain he face of he forwar progress of he raona. As Mannhem( 99/936 4) pus i he chef characersic of moern cuure is heenenc o inclue as much as possible n he realm of he raional an obring i uner aminisraive conro an on he oher han o reuce herraional elemen o he vanishng poin."

Mannheim was force o back awa from his opimisic view in his laerwork n he face of he increasing prevalence of such irraonaliies aseconomic epresson war an ascism became icul o argue hairraionalies were sappearng f anhing he opposie seeme o be hecase. As we wil see Mannheim came o feel ha raionali coul no belef o avance on s own bu ha o be helpe aong hrough planningurhermore as he rene an even alere hs sense of raionai he sawha he progress of a leas one pe of raonali migh in fac be a maorae of a eas some of hese irraionaes more on hs below).

A his ear sage in Mannhem' s work raonazaon involves behaviorha is in accor wh some raonal srucure or framework Raional acorsfollow enie prescripions ea g o pero deo htoever"(Mannheim 99/936 ) he image is of he acor folowing heicaes of some arger bureaucraicall organze srucure (he source ofhe aminisraive conrol he sele an rounize proceures menione above) an hs mage is suppore b he eamples offere bMannheim pe ofcials uges an facor workers As a resul of heime in which he wroe Mannheim (like Weber) overemphasizes heimporance of bureaucracies a eas from our conemporar vanage poin

McDona's (as we as mos franchisers) for eample has a minimalbureaucraic saff an srucure bu i noneheless has been abe o evelopan implemen sele an rouinze proceures ha i imposes onfranchisees managers an emploees. While i is no wel escribe as abureaucrac McDonas has succeee in eveloping mehos ha leaveis emploees wih lie or no room for persona ecision making

Mannheim conrass raional acion o ondt which begins whereraionalizaion has no e penerae an where we are orce o makeecisions in siuaions which have a yet no been subjece o reguaion

(Mannheim 99/ 936 alics ae). n hs ear work conuc isassociae wih he irraonal realm an Mannheim hols he view haconuc like irraionali more general wll sooner or laer come o belimie or even be eliminae b he process of raionalizaion n hese




Mannheim ' Theo of Raionaliaion 19

terms, what McDonaldized sstems have succeeded in doing is to greatlrestrict conduct" Rules, regulations, scripts and the like have increasedsignicantl the regulation of the behavior of those associated withMcDonaldized sstems Thus, in annheim's terms, at least in this earlstage in his work, McDonaldization brings with it a decline in irrationalit

There is a conundrum in Mannheim's earl thinking on the process ofrationalization On the one hand, he clearl favors the progressive rationalization of sectors that had hitherto been dominated b the irrational Sincethe will come to be controlled b administrative dictates, irrational decisions and actions will be reduced or eliminated On the other hand, canMannheim reall want a world in which all decisions are controlled? inwhich there is no personal decision making, no personal freedom, whatsoever? We will retu to this issue when we discuss Mannheim's views onplanning, but before we do we need to get a sense of his later analsis of the

nature of rationalit and irrationalit)

Mannhems Later Thnkng on Ratonalty

Mannheim had much more to sa about rationalit and irrationalit, and hesaid it ver differentl, in Man and Soie in an Age of Reonrion(935/940) Mannheim's thinking on rationalit had grown far morerened; he differentiated between two tpes of rationalit and two varietiesof irrationalit He argued that both rationalit and irrationalit can besubdivided into the substantial" and the functional" paralleling, at least tosome degree Weber's distinction between substantive and formal rationalit) Substantial rationalit and irrationalit deal with thinking, whilefunctional rationalit and irrationalit are concerned with action n thissection we wl l deal with hs greatl revised thoughts on rationalit while inthe net section we will analse his similarl modied thinking on irrationalit

Substantial rationalit is dened as an act of hogh which revealsinelligen inigh into the interrelations of events in a given situation

Mannheim, 935940 53 italics added) This is clearl ver dierentfrom the gross denition of rationalit adopted in Mannheim's earlier workHere rationalit involves intelligent thought whereas previousl his moreglobal sense of rationalit closer to what he now thinks of as functionalrationalit; see p ) implied an almost complete lack of thought

Substantial rationalit is a micro-subjective concpt relating purel toindividual thought processes although the larger social setting is clearlimplied through the notion of the situation in which the thought takesplace) n contrast, Weber's parallel concept of substantive rationalit, or

the choice of means to ends in the context of larger values, is multidimensonal t involves micro-objective action the choice) and macrosubjective values, as well as, at least implicitl, micro-subjective thoughtprocesses leading to the choice of means to ends Weber's conceptualization




20 Theoretal ue

is much iche but that ve ichness ceates poblems fo those who seek touse it.

The multidimensionalit of Webe's conceptualization makes it messin the sense that it combines both mico action and pehaps thought) andmaco values) elements within one concept. It also does not specif the

natue of the elationship between its two o thee depending on how oucount them) elements especiall how much contol values execise ovechoices as well as the elationship between thought and action.

Mannheim's substantial ationalit is a fa neate concept opeating puelat the micosubjective level in tems of individual thought and insight. As aesult thee is none of the kind of ambiguit that exists in Webes paallelconcept Thee is no need fo Mannheim to specif micomaco elationships no the linkage between thought micosubjectivit) and actionmicoobjectivit) within the concept of substantial ationalization The

simplicit of Mannheim s conceptualization is an asset especiall if onewants to link as both Mannheim and Webe do substantive ationalit toothe concepts especiall functional o fomal) ationalit ecause itencompasses seveal diffeent levels of analsis Webe's sense of substantive ationalit is difcult to elate to sa fomal ationalit Is oneelating thought action values o some combination of the thee to fomalationalit? Depending on which aspect one is linking to fomal ationalitone is likel to come up with ve dieent conclusions about the natue ofthat elationship On the othe hand given Mannheim's limited con

ceptualization it is clea that one is concened with the impact of substantiall ational thought pocesses on functionall ational sstems and theoepondng effet of thoe tem on uh thnking

The issue of the natue of this elatonship is of geat importance becausein man was Webe pefes substantive ationalit with its human values tofomal ationalit in which choices ae constained b inhuman ulesegulations and stuctues Howeve because of the complexit of hisconceptualization it is unclea exactl what Webe pefes substantivelational thought? action? o the lage human values that pedominate insubstantive ationalit? o anothe assuming as most do that it is the

latte it is ve difcult to come down unequivocall on the side ofsubstantive ationalit ove fomal ationalit. The poblem hee is thatsubstantive ationalit in which lage human values pedominate has thepotential to lead to fa geate inhumanit than fomal ationalit Histo isife with examples of human destuction that have been animated b socalled human values. Nazism had man such values and some of them ledpeople to take actions that esulted in the destuction of seveal millionpeople auman 989

While Mannheim too pefes substantial ationalit o at least worries

about its fate in light of the gowth of functional ationalit it lacks thenegative possibilities that inhee in Webe's substantive ationalit. Indeedit could be agued that intelligent insight would militate against suchvaluediven excesses as the Nazi Holocaust Thoughtful intelligent people




Mannheim Theo of Rationalization 2

would one assues have been better able to see where Nazi values weretaking Geran and this would have led the to oppose such a course ofaction.

Whatever their differences as well as their relative strengths and weaknesses both Webers substantive rationalit and Mannheis substantialrationalit are threatened b the developent and spread of McDonaldiation. We will retu to this issue below

Mannhei coes closer to his earlier ore global sense of rationalit inhis denition offntional tionali as a series of actions organized insuch a wa that it leads to a previousl dened goal ever eleent in thisseries of actions receiving a functional position and role" (Mannhei93590 53) The series of actions is functionall rational in that each hasa role to pla in the achieveent of the ultiate goal although the goal itselfcan be either rational or irrational or exaple salvation is dened as anirrational goal but it can be sought through a series of functionall rationalactions. McDonaldized sstes are functionall rational with all eleentsoccuping a functional position in a series of actions leading to theobjective sa the sale of large nubers of haburgers to the public.

Mannheis concept of functional rationalit has uch in coon withWebers sense of foral rationalit or exaple ecienc is a centralcharacteristic of foral rationalit fro Webers point of view and Mannhei (935/940 53) argues that a functional organization of a series ofactions will oreover be at its best when in order to attain the given goalit co-ordinates the eans ost efcientl"

However Webers concept of foral rationalit has disadvantages incoparison to Mannheis sense of functional rationalit and is evenessier than his (Webers) conceptualization of substantive rationalit. Likesubstantive rationalit foral rationalit cobines icro and acro eleents However in coparison to substantive rationalit which deals solelwith values at the acro level the acro level in foral rationalitencopasses rules laws and regulations" as well as the acroobjectivestructures (e.g bureaucracies) in which the exist. This opens up the

possibilit of an ore interrelationships between the acro and icroand therefore creates even greater abiguit in the concept. This abiguitis heightened b Webers failure to specif the nature of the relationshipsiplied in his ulti-faceted conceptualization of foral rationalit.

As with substantial rationalit Mannheis concept of functional rationalit has advantages over Webers parallel conceptualization especiall inits greater clarit and siplicit. Mannhei is working at least explicitl atthe icro level this tie in ters of icro-objective actions that arearranged in a series with each action receiving a functional position and role.

An organization with rules and regulations is iplied here but unlikeWebers denition of foral rationalit (where do the rules laws andregulations exist if not in organizations?) it is not integral to the denition




Theoreial e

To Mannhei as the were to Weber functional and substantial rationalit a be substitutes for or even in conict with one another. orexaple the gri an described earier a act in accord with thefunctional organiation of the fastfood restaurant without thinking throughthe various steps involved in grilling a haburger. In fact a functiona

organiation like the fastfood restaurant generall wants its eploees toact in accord with its dictates and not to think through such steps on theirown; in other words it ordinari does not want the to practice substantiverationait

Mannhei argues that industrialiation has led to an increase in functionalrationaliation but not necessaril substantial rationaliation. In fact hegoes further b arguing that functional rationaliation has tended to paralse substantial rationaiation b leaving people less and less roo toutilie their independent judgent This sees to be Mannheis version of

Weber's irrationait of rationalit. That is the irrational consequence of thespread of functional rationalit is the decline of substantial rationalit. Ofcourse Mannhei (like Weber) was writing before the rise of serviceindustries ike fastfood restaurants but it can easil be argued that substantial rationait is at east as paralsed in those settings as it is b largescale industr. In other words the coing of an of the service industrieshas exacerbated the decline of substantial rationait.

There is one other ajor point of reseblance between the Weberian andMannheiian theories of the reationship between these two tpes of

rationalit the progressive disenchantent of the world In Mannhei 'scase this eans that we are seeing the disappearance of boh utopias andideooge we ar ovg ar a word i c a idea have beendiscredited and all utopias have been destroed (Mannhei 99/9656. In an excelent description Mannhei depicts the oveent towardthe coplete destruction of all spiritual eleents the utopian as we as theideoogical . . . eergence o a atter of factness' . . in sexual life artand architecture and the expression of the natural ipulses in sports(Mannhei 99/ 96 56 This progressive disenchantent of the wordis in Mannheis view to be regretted because people need utopias (andideologies). As Mannhei puts it

s possbl rfor a i fuur i a orld c r is vrayg c a is isd ad ac o s a rpo of pasr ca xis a codio i c oug ill b urly dvoid of aidological ad uopia ls Bu cop liiaio of raiyrascdig ls fro our ord oud ad us o a ar-offacssc ulay ould a dcay of ua l (Ma\929/1936: 262)

The world that Mannhei feared is now here in the fastfood restaurant

and other McDonaldied sstes. or exaple such sstes strive for acondition in which there is never anthing new that is where everthing ispredictabl the sae The objective largel realied is that each new visitis erel a repetition of a previous visits.




Mannheim ' Theo of Rationaliation 23

Whie Mannheim regrets the progressive disappearance of both ideoogiesand utopias, it is the demise of the atter which is the far greater probem.The reason is that whie the death of an ideoog woud pose a crisis for thesocia strata espousing it, the disappearance of utopias woud have aprofound negative efect on human nature and on human deveopment as a

whoeTe dsappearance of uopa brngs abou a sac sae of affars n c manmsef becomes no more an a ng We ould be faced en e greaesparadox magnabe namely a man, o as aceved e ges degree ofraonal masery of exsence ef ou any deas becomes a mere creaure ofmpulses. Tus afer a long oruous bu eroc developmen, jus a e gessage of aareness, en sory s ceasng o be bnd fae, and s becomng moreand more mans on creaon, e relnqusmen of uopas man ould loses o sape sory and ere s ably o undersand Mannem1929936: 2623)

Mannheim is obvious coming ver cose here to the disenchantment of theword tha so interested and conceed Weber.

Weber was aso high interested in the spread of forma rationait in theWest and Mannheim has a simiar eve of conce for, and offers a simiarhpothesis about, the spread of functiona rationait

Te more ndusraled a socey s and e more advanced s dvson of abourand organaon e greaer l be e number of speres of uman acvyc l be funconally raona and ence aso calculable n advance. Werease ndvdua n earer socees aced only occasonally and n lmed speres n

a funconally raona manner n conemporary socey e s compelled o ac ns ay n more and more speres of lfe. (Mannem, 9351940 55 alcsadded

There are two aspects of this process, as described here, that reateparticuar we to McDonadization. irst, there is the spread of functionarationait and therefore McDonadization) to more and more sectors ofsociet Second, there is the compusion to act in a functiona rationamatter McDonadized sstems, as iron cages, in a variet of was controa of those who nd their wa into them) And it is not just the workers whoare subjected to such compusion, but aso customers and cients

Whie Mannheim and Weber were right to point to the expansion offunctiona/forma rationait in the West, it is now spreading throughout theword One exampe of this is the extension of McDonad's, and the fastfood estaurant more genera, to arge portions of the rest of the word

Both Weber and Mannheim share a sense that over time forma/functionarationait is coming to dominate, squeeze out, parase" substantive/substantia rationait urther, both accept the view that this deveopmenthas a series of negative consequences However, whie in Mannheim'sschema it s obvious wh we shoud worr about the oss of the individua's

abiit to think, brought about b the deveopment of functiona actions, it isnot as obvious wh Weber's version of this shoud conce us t is difcutto argue against Mannheim's view that societ is adverse affected b thedecining abiit of peope to think rationa However, Weber's assertion




24 Theoreial e

that we should fret over the decline of substantive rationalit is far orequestionable. Again, this depends on the huanness of the vaues inquestion A fora rationa sste with the abilit to control, or eiinate,the values associated with Nazis would clearl be preferable to one inwhich such vaues doinated foral rationa sstes as was true in Nazi

Geran).Mannhei adds needed nuance to the arguent b discussing the difer

entia effect of this process on people depending upon their position in anorganization He distinguishes between those at the top of the organizationand those below the hose at the top tend to retain substantia rationalit,whie the substantia rationalit of those below the declines as theresponsibilit for independent decision aking is restricted to those at thetop. his has disastrous consequences for a person who does not occup ahigh-leve, decision-aking position:

H bcoms incrasingly accustomd to bing ld by otrs and gradually givsup is on intrprtation of vnts for tos otrs giv im Wn trationalizd mcanism of social lif collapss in tims of crisis t individualcannot rpair it by is on insigt nstad is on impotnc rducs im to astat of trid plssnss (Mannim 1935/190 59

his represents a huge proble if for no other reason than the fact that thevast ajorit of peope occup subordinate positions Again, the descriptionoffered above applies well to a McDonaldized societ, in which the ajoritof workers and others) are accustoed to being told what to do and begin to

lose the abilit to interpret situations for theseves Should the rationalizedsste collapse we can expect such peope to be coparativel hepless.However t shuld be sad tat te fuhe develen MDnaldanakes it ore unike that the sste wil coapse

Overall there is a close correspondence between the Mannheiian andthe Weberian approaches as the relate to McDonadization n Weberianters, McDonaldization ipies the spread of foral rationaization, whilein later) Mannheiian ters it involves the deveopent, growth andspread of functiona rationalization. Also siiar is the idea that the spreadof functional and fora) rationalization is serving to choke off thedevelopent, even the existence, of substantial and substantive) rationalit.However, whie both theorists see this as eading to a kind of disenchantent of the word, the nature of that disenchantent is quite different. orWeber, we suffer a oss of huan values, while for Mannhei we suffer theoss of ideologies, utopias, and especiall the abiit to think

Both of these perspectives are of utilit in thinking about McDonaldization. A McDonaldized word doinated b Weber's foral rationalitwoud be a word devoid of huan values. McDonaldized sstes, withtheir ephasis on things like efcienc and prot axiization, have ittle

place for huan values such as love or counit. Mannhei's version ofthis is found in his analsis of the eiination of ideologies and utopias inthe ode word However, Mannhei sees ore conceed with theeiination of thought than with the deise of ideologies and utopias And




Mannheim s Theo of Rationalization 25

t s even cearer that McDonadzed sstes seek to t f not enatendvdua thought Great contro through scrpts Ledner 1993), nonhuan technooges and the ke s desgned to t the epoee'sespeca the owerstatus epoee's need and abt to thnk on the jobThus the two theorsts pont to qute dfferent pcatons of theMcDonadzaton process Mannhes thnkng s a usefu suppeent toWeber's n ths case because McDonadzed sstes do tend to threaten noton huan vaues but aso the ndvdua's abt to thnk

The utt of Mannhe' s theorzng s enhanced n ths rea because aswe have seen he ponts to the fact that ones poston n the organzatonaherarch affects ones abt to thnk Those at the top are abe to t theeffect of extea constrants on the whe actve posng such constrants on those beow the n the organzaton The resut s that the furtherone descends n a McDonadzed organzaton the ess the abt ofepoees to thnk through ther actons on ther own Thus Mannheadds an portant denson of stratcaton to our thnkng aboutMcDonadzed sstes

Weber sees arger structures ke bureaucraces as the source of dsenchantent In contrast to Mannhe dsenchantent nvoves one tpe ofacton functona) drvng out another substanta) Mannhe acks anexpct sense that acrostructures are the source of dsenchantent andths aows h to propose pannng wth the acro-structures that woudnevtab accopan t as the souton to the probe However whatMannhe fas to see s that such pannng and structures woud brng anincrease n McDonadzaton It s for ths reason that Weber opposedsocas and the pannng that accopaned t Thus Webers acrostructura perspectve gves h a powerfu advantage at east n thsnstance over Mannhe's conceptuazaton

o cases can e ade pro and con or oh Weer's and Manne'sthnkng about fora/functona and substantve/substanta ratonat aswe as the reatonshps between the two basc tpes of ratonat andrratonat Both are of utt and pose probes for our thnkng aboutMcDonadzaton

However Mannhe went far beond Weber n hs conceptuazaton ofratonazaton and t s here at east potenta that hs greatest advantagees The ssue s whether the addtona conceptua arsena created bMannhe furthers our understandng of McDonadzaton

Mannhe goes beond functona ratonazaton to post the ntatereated phenoenon of se-rtionalization or the ndvdua's ssteatccontro of hs puses" Mannhe 9351940: 55) In fact sefratonazaton s soetes descrbed as a tpe of functona ratonazaton

and n an case the two are cose nked the functona ratonazaton ofobjectve actvtes utate evokes sef-ratonazaton" Mannhe19351940 56) hgh eve of overa ratonazaton occurs when functona and sef-ratonazaton occur together Ths s ost ke to be found




2 Theoretical Issues

in Mannheim's view, among the administrative staff of arge-scae organizations. Here the extea contro of the organization's rues and reguationsis suppemented b sefrationaization, especia in the case of staffmembers and their careers In Mannheim's words, the career prescribes noton the actua processes of work but aso the prescriptive reguation both of

the ideas and feings one is permited to have and of one's eisure time( 935/ 940: 56). Sef-reguation exerts contro over matters ideas, feeings,eisure time) that functiona rationaization cannot reach

Mannheim is quite correct to posit a deeper" eve of rationaizationbeond functiona rationaization. The atter is designed to exercise argeextea contro over microobjective actions and has itte or no effect onmicro-subjective cognitive processes. In a pure functiona sstem, subordinates cannot be trusted to act on their own accord in the wa the areexpected to b the organization. A functiona rationa sstem requires

rues, reguations, aws, supervision and technoogica contro However,extea contro can be extreme cost and far from tota dependabe.That is, subordinates are motivated to, and often do, eude these exteacontros and do not perform as the are expected to b the organization

The answer, at east in Mannheim's da, was to suppement functionarationait with sef-rationaization or exampe, the human reations movement, which was in its heda in Mannheims time, sought to make workersmore satised so that the woud work harder of their own accord ratherthan being forced to do so In other words, the goa of such a management

schoo was the ateration of the consciousness of workersSuch a movement and a view seem od-fashioned toda, as doesannhi ou on th ipoan o raionaation a a uppnto functiona rationaization. In the McDonadized word of the fast-foodrestaurant there is itte interest in, or need for, sefrationaization theemphasis is on honing functiona rationait. That is, the goa is the bettercoordination of actions. As ong as those actions are snchronized, there isitte need for, or interest in, changing the mind-set of empoees

Wh this ack of interest in sef-rationaization in McDonadized sstems?or one thing, the empoees in such sstems are apt to be both part-timeand short-term workers; the workforce ma tu over two or three times aear It is impossibe to change the cognitive processes of such workers insuch a short period of time urthermore, even if it coud be done, there isitte point in doing so since the empoees are ike to be gone in reativeshort order Man chains, as we as other tpes of McDonadized enterprises, have adopted, at east in part, McDonad's functiona rationaapproach to managing its workforce. Making this even more necessar is thefact that there has been a vast increase in temporar empoees in theeconom as a whoe One must re on functiona rationaization to dea withsuch empoees since, again, there is itte time for, and interest in, sefrationaization

However, there are hierarchica differences in the need for sefrationaization. Hence, McDonad's has its Hamburger Universities designed




Mannheims Theo of Rationalization 27

not onl to train franchisees and managers in the techniques of running afranchise and eercising functional control over subordinates but also toalter their mind-sets so that the can eercise self-rationalization It is farmore important for franchisees and managers to believe in the McDonald'swa; the are likel to work harder for the organization when the have suchbeliefs urthermore it is harder to control them through functional rationalit than it is to control their subordinates Nonetheless McDonald's doesutilize a high level of functional rationalization with its franchisees andmanagers There are all sorts of rules regulations and checks b centralmanagement designed to ensure that their actions are coordinated in the wathe should be

Mannheim's point about supplementing functional rationalit with selfrationalt holds in the case of franchisees and managers and moregenerall for those who occup higher-level positions in the organizational

hierarch However it has little applicabilit to the vast majorit of theemploees of mode McDonaldized organizations The work world haschanged dramaticall since Mannheim's da and while his thoughts on selfratonalization ma have applied to large-scale productive organizationsthe have little relevance to work in toda's McDonaldized reproductiveorganizations.

Nevertheless self-rationalzation does appl and quite well to thecustomers and clients of McDonaldized sstems t is true that there arevarous eteal constraints on patrons drive-throughs limited menus hard

and uncomfortable seats but these are supplemented b efforts bMcDonaldized sstems to train" consumers to control themselves and to dowhat is epected of them How do patrons lea what the are epected todo? Advertsements provide a kind of anticipator socialization so thatcustomers know for eample not onl what to order but how to orderhildren can be counted on to teach adults (in reverse socialization) what todo (eg to clean up their debris) Then there are signs as well as variousphsical structures eg visible and readil accessible garbage pails) thatserve to indicate what is epected As a result of all of these things as well

of as their own accumulated personal eperiences in McDonaldized sstemsthe patrons of such sstems can be said to be selfrationalized Indeed this isa ke to the success of McDonaldized sstems

Self-rationalization is not the highest and most etreme form of rationalization in Mannheim's theoretical sstem That honor goes to what Mannheim calls seobseation Self-rationalization involves a

procss of mntal raining subordinating my innr motivs to an xtal aimSlf-obsrvaion on t otr and is mor tan suc form of mntal rainingSlf-obsrvation aims primarily a innr e-tnformton Man rcs aboutimsl and is actions mosly for sa of rmoulding or ransforming imslf

mor radically Mannim 1935190 57

Once again Mannheim' s thinking seems to be much more a product of histimes than a generalization that is full supportable in toda's McDonaldized societ McDonaldized sstems are even less interested in the




28 Theoretica ssues

sef-observaton that s sef-transformaton), than n the sef-ratonazaton,of the buk of ther empoees The fast-food restaurant does not and cannotexpect ts empoees to transform themseves for the sake of a part-tme ortemporar job. Nor s such a McDonadzed sstem nterested n nvestngthe tme, energ and mone needed to hep ensure such seftransformatonAs wth sef-ratonazaton sefobservaton appes much more to managersand franchsees than t does to the vast majort of empoees of McDonadzed enterprses n Mannheman terms, there s no need for McDonadzedorganzatons to seek to have the vast maort of ther empoees transformthemseves. A that s needed s to be sure that ther actons are coordnatedwth those of the others the work wth, and then on for a few hours aweek and for on the few months that ther jobs are ke to ast.

And what of the patrons of McDonadzed sstems? t coud be arguedthat the broader objectve of those sstems, and more genera of aMcDonadzed socet s ust such a seftransformaton of those served bthem A McDonadzed sstem works best when customers have transformed themseves so that the are passve, pabe partcpants n thosesstems That s the surrender ther ndvduat and move throughMcDonadzed sstems smooth efcent and above a, quck. In asense, the agree to gve up ther ndvduat and permt themseves to betreated ke, and to be sod the same products as everone ese.

Mannhem seems to envson a herarch, and perhaps even a hstorcatrend, runnng from substanta ratonazaton to functona ratonazaton,sef-ratonazaton and utmate sefobservaton. Whe n the earerstages of modernt socet ma have been abe to re on functonaratonazaton, hs vew s that more compex and rapd changng modernsocetes requre sef-ratonazaton and especa sefobservaton, whchcontro peope better and more efcent and enabe them to adapt moreread to compex new stuatons

Ths mode grand narratve s open to queston n part because we arere-examnng t n an era when t s dfcut to accept grand narratves nght of the postmode crtque Lotard, 1 9791 984) . More mportant forour purposes t s open to queston because deveopments n much of thework word have not foowed the patte envsoned b Mannhem. Heseems to have n mnd what was ong ago caed the professonazaton ofthe abor force oote 1953 . The dea was that most workers werebecomng more and more ke professonas One coud and shoud re onsef-ratonazaton and sef-observaton wth such professona" workers,but the professonazed bue-coar workforce that oote was descrbngnever materazed. More mportant, the bue-coar workforce has shrunkdramatca and become ess sgncant n the era of the downszng of theorganzatons most ke to empo them. n ther pace has arsen a massvenumber of owstatus, ow-pad servce workers ke those found n the ocafastfood restaurant and n McDonadzed sstems more genera. It sudcrous to thnk of counterpeope at the fastfood restaurant subjectng




Mannheim s Theo of Rationaiation 29

themselves to self-rationalization and self-observation for the sake of aminimum wage, parttime job

However retuing to a theme that has arisen several times in this sectionit ma well be that Mannheim's grand narrative applies far better tocustomers and clients of McDonaldized sstems than it does to emploees t

is the patrons who can be seen as having lost their substantial rationalit inMcDonaldized sstems where the are dominated b functional rationalitAnd it is the who can be said to have undergone both self-rationalizationand self-observation in McDonaldized societies With emploees ofMcDonaldized sstems well controlled b functional rationalit, the focusshifts to customers/clients who are better able to evade such controls In theircase, functional rationalit must be supplemented with self-rationalizationand self-observation.

Mannheims Late Thinking n atinality

We have alread encountered one of Mannheim's implicit but centrallimportant views on irrationalit in the discussion of the tendenc over timefor functional rationalit to squeeze out substantial rationalit This idea is inline with Webers thinking on the irrationalit of rationalit

More explicitl Mannheim offers the concepts of substantial and functional irrationalit to parallel substantial and functional rationalit. Both

notions of irrationalit are, however residual concepts reecting Mannheim's focal conce with rationalit. Given his sense of substantial rationalit as rational thought, Mannheim denes substantia irtionai aseverthing else which either is false or not an act of thought at all as forexample drives, impulses, wishes and feelings, both conscious and unconscious)" Mannheim, 1935l940 53)

his is a ver different sense of the irrational than in his earlier workwhere Mannheim had associated rtionai with the lack of thought Here itis substantial irrationalit that involves a lack of thought. However previousl the lack of thought had been linked to administrative controlfollowing prescriptions without an personal decision making), while in thecase of substantial irrationalit it is tied to drives, impulses wishes andfeelings

rom the point of view of the emploees of McDonaldized sstems it isdifcult to see much utilit in the notion of substantial irrationalit. It iscertainl the case that McDonaldized sstems operate to contain suchirrationalit among emploees but I do not think that such containmentplas much of a role in the planning associated with McDonaldization.Again the fact that Mannheim was embedded in a world in which such

irrationalities were of central importance (for example in the rise of ascism)served to give this tpe of irrationalit undue importance in his work, at leastfrom the vantage point of the emploees of todas McDonaldized sstems.




30 Thotica Issus

Whe t s not what he had n mnd for the concept, Mannhems noton ofsubstanta rratonat s appcabe to the wa n whch McDonadzedsstems approach ther customers/cents. n a varet of was but especathrough advertsements, McDonadzed sstems seek to manpuate theneeds desres and mpuses, the substanta rratonat, of customers/cents

n order to get them to become devoted f not habtua consumers of therproducts and servces. or eampe McDonads utzes ts knowedge ofcustomers desre to have fun b oferng them a cava-ke atmosphere nwhch to obtan ther food n another ream mas epot consumers fearsabout shoppng n urban stores b offerng them a crme-free or so thewoud ke consumers to beeve) envronment.

unctona irationai s dened as everthng whch breaks throughand dsrupts functona orderng" Mannhem 19351940 54) n contrast tosubstanta rratonat ths tpe of rratonat is of centra mportance to

McDonadzed sstems. Such sstems do want to see ther functonaratona organzatons operate smooth and n so dong seek to mt anoutbursts of functona rratonat whch threaten that smooth operatonHowever, thnk that McDonadzed sstems are far more conceed wthensurng functona ratonat than wth preventng functona rratonatn fact a smooth runnng, functona ratona sstem woud tend tom tate aganst functona rratonat

Mannhem s vew that at east one aspect of the rratonat of ratonatstems from the fact that great masses of peope are crowded together n arge

ctes because of ndustrazaton s qute dated Mannhem seemed to beargung that ndustrazaton creates what used to be caed mass socet."Thus, paradoca as arescae ndustra soet eads to reater uctona ratonat sef-ratonazaton and sefobservaton t aso creates thecondtons n mass socet for rratona threats to that ratona sstem:

i producs all irraioaliis ad moioal oubras ic ar caracrisicof amorpous uma agglomraios As a idusria sociy i so rs social mcaism a sligs irraioal disurbac ca av mos farracig fcs ad as a mass sociy i avors a gra umbr of iraioalimpulss ad suggsios ad producs a accumulaio of usublimad psycic

rgis ic a vry mom ras o smas ol subl maciryof social lif. (Maim 1 935 1 940 6 )

Ths mage appears to have tte to do wth what transpres n modeMcDonadzed socetes The machner of such socetes seems n ttedanger from the knd of emotona mass outbursts of conce to MannhemOnce agan hs thnkng seems to be a product of reates that have ongsnce passed nto hstor, at east the hstor of contemporar McDonadzedsocetes Toda most peope seem too bus consumng n McDonadzedsstems to engage n such outbursts.

Of far greater utt s Mannhems sense that the functona ratonaactons of those n one organzaton can be functona rratona from thepont of vew of those n another organzaton. or eampe whenMcDonadzed sstems produce an abundance of ow-sked McJobs see




3 Theoretica Iue

Mannheim mot crucia faiure i hi inabii to ee the irrationaiy thatie at the core of rtionaiy.

Of cors h nar of planning in a McDonaliz sysm is vryiffrn from h kin of planning nvision by Mannhim WhilMannhim was hinking of cnraliz planning on a sociy-w basis,

McDonaliz sociis ar characrz by a high gr of cnralizplanning wihn spcic scors of socy Wih h ah of commnismh kin of cnraliz planning iscss by Mannhim s of lil signicanc in h mo worl Insa wha w s is an xraorinarilyhigh lvl of planning wihn a rang of spcic scors as xmpli byh carfl an ail planning associa wih h craon an rnning ofach McDonal's ol Sch planning s far mor ffciv an omniprsn han anyhing ha col hav bn cra hrogh cnraliz socywi plannng An h sysm rns islf rahr han rqirng a scr

polic o nforc complianc wih is icasFor xampl McDonals has rcnly cra a s of bsinss pracics

in h form of a hanbook i calls Franchising 000 (Gbson 996b. Hrar som illsraons of h kn of cnraliz conrol xrcis byMcDonal s ovr is franchss:

One conroersia roson reqres fanchsees to sbmit annal nancia goalso the comans regiona managers who sgn off on them. he docment asoeies annal A, B C and F grades with on anchsees eceing As ad Bselgbe for moe resaans some franchsees dob he sstem's objecti

In addon Mconad's s sing ranchsing 2000 to t to enoce a sngecing straeg o hat a Bg Mac fo exame will cost the same amosteerwhere . . . . hose who gnore sch gdelnes and othewise seek ersonaga ad aaage o e deme o he ssem as he new handboo ts s losing thei anchse when exies. (bon 996b: A 0)

This kin of cnraliz conrol s characrisic of McDonaliz sysmsMannhim nvision a sysm in which broaly rain sociologiss an

poliicians (school n socological hinking) o h planning for socyHowvr h fac ha his planning occrs in narrow scors in McDonaliz sociy mans ha i is spcialiss rahr han wi-ranging hnkrs

who o h planning y is vry nar hs kin of plannng canno akh ns of sociy as a whol ino accon n any cas, h plans of hosn conrol of on scor can com ino conic wih, an ac o h rimnof plans promlga n ohr scors. I is nlikly ha hs yp ofplanning can accomplish h goals forsn by Mannhim

Conlusion

In comparison o is Wbran conrpar Mannhims lar hinking on

raonaliy has a nmbr of srnghs an waknsss, as wll as a nmbr ofavanags an isavanags Mannhim's concpalizaion of sbsanialan fncional raionaliy is nar an asir o s han h Wbranconcps of formal an sbsaniv raionaliy Th mssnss of h lar




Mannheim 's Theo of Rationaliation 33

concpts maks thm mo ifclt to s spcially in tms of th kyiss of lating thm to on anoth. Of phaps gat impotanc is thfact that Mannhim's sns of sbstantial ationality yils a cla anmo fnsibl poblmatic than Wb's notion of sbstantiv ationalityTo Mannhim sbstantial ationality involvs ational thoght an it is asy

to s how that is thatn by th mach of fnctional ationality ssasy to s an spcially to fn is Wbs conc ov th fact thatsbstantiv ationality associat with hman vals is thatn by thavanc of fomal ationality t is cla why w shol b conc abotth loss of ational thoght bt fa lss cla why w shol ft ov thclin of val-ivn ationality At al mch ham has bn on inth wol in th nam of sch ationality

Whil Mannhim's sns of th lationship btwn sbstantial anfnctional ationality is a signicant avanc his ias on sbstantial

an fnctiona iationality appa to a littl lagly bcas thy an siay Of mix signicanc at last fom th point of viw ofMcDonalization a his notions of slf-ationalization an slf-obsvation.Ths concpts a lagly mb in th a in which thy w catan hav littl to o with th wok lif alitis of McDonaliz socity oat ast th McDonaliz sctos of socity Howv thy o havspising applicability to th patons of McDonaliz systms

Th most impotant iss is: what can w say abot McDonalization inlight of Mannhim s concptalization in paticla his lat ias on

ationalization? McDonalizaton involvs an incas in fnctional ationality at th xpns of a clin in sbstantial ationality t is this clinth tioation of th ability of popl in most spcially low-ankingpositions to think ationally that is th fnamntal iationality ofMcDonaliz systms Th is littl oom fo o intst in slfationalizaton an slf-obsvation in McDonaliz systms xcpt nhighlvl positions Whil lagly nintst in th sl-ationalizationan slfobsvation of mploys McDonaliz systms hav com toplac gat lianc on slf-ationalization an slfobsvation to gtpatons to bhav as thy a xpct to Th kin of cntaliz planningnvision by Mannhim wol only sv to incas th iationalityassociat with th clining ability of low-anking mploys to thinkh local an in many ways mo powl planning of McDonalizsystms has also in fact l to an incas in that iationality

In th n o nstaning of McDonalization is nhanc bythinkng it fom th point of viw of Mannhim's thoy of ationality. tsmost impotant contibtion is to point s towa th that to th ability tothink ath than th Wbian that to hman vals as th fnamntalatonality of McDonaliz systms Claly th naow nichs that mo

an mo pop occpy within McDonaliz systms povi littl scopfo thoght W n to vot mo thotical attntion to th implicationso th clinng oppotnity fo sbstantial ationality within McDonalizsystms. This is paticlaly impotant bcas si by si with th gowth




34 Theoretical Iue

of hs McDonaliz sysms is h xpansion of pos-insial sysmsmaning h complx hogh pocsss associa wih sbsanial aionaliy (Hag an Pows 1992. This bings s o anoh conibion ofMannhim's appoach o his iss his mn of h impoanc of hlaionship of social sacaion o all of his W a wl l on h way o a

sociy iffnia o a lag g bwn highsas highpayingposinsial occpaions chaaciz by sbsanial aionaliy an lowsas lowpaying McDonaliz occpaons lagly lacking in schaionaly.

Mannhim's hinking on aionaiy an iaionaliy has a nmb ofwaknsss mos noaby h fac ha mch of i is i o a paicla iman plac; in many snss i os no san h s of im vy wllHowv in oh ways i has snghs an conins o b sfl fohinking abo conmpoay socy All in all Wbian hoy mains h

pim soc fo hnking abo McDonalizaion This is lagly bcasof Wb's alizaon ha aionaliy is icly link o h avancmnof fomal aionaliy an o Mannhims fail o s his piomiz byhis song cas fo plannng n spi of his waknss as wll as ohsh is mch o b gan by spplmning Wbian hoy wih, anhinking McDonalizaion fom a Mannhimian pspciv

Ntes

A we wil ee planning becoe inceangy cental o Mannhei' thining onaionaiaion

a hee ing a itintion eveope n Tad a ad aPadm Th ah a Empa ad a ma h ubj Ma Rite 181between two cocopc icobecive concione) an icoobecive action» antwo acocopic acobective no an vae) an acoobectve ocial ce» leve of ocial analyi

3 The potoeit Jean Baia 1 / 3 22 ecibe thi a the hell of theSae




3

The McDonaldzaton of AmecanSocology: A Metasocologcal Analyss

This chaptr has thr obctvs Th rst an by far th most mportant isto apply th concpt of McDonalzation to sociology Scon it ss tomb ths spcic wor wthn th socology of sociology or mtasociology spcialy th contribtions of irr Bori Thr an mch

mor briy this analysis is s to cast som nw or at last irntlight on th crrnt crisis" n socoogy

The Silgy Silgy and etailgy

Bfor gttng to th man obctv of ths chaptr wol li to plac thiswor within th broar contxt of th sociology of sociology or what prfr to call mtasociology (itzr 1991 , 1992) . Th sociology of sociol

ogy acqir somthng of a ba rptation n th 1970 an arly 1980, inpart throgh th otn trivia navl-gazing paprs (g on citaton rats orpartmntal ratings that appar in th orignal American Socioogist.

t this is an ara that can an shol b rsscitat throgh mor sriosmpirical an thortically bas stis an analyss of sociology Sociologists ar in a partclarly avantagos position to bring thir tools to baron thir own l n fact that is what is bing on hr th thory ofrationaationMcDonalzation is bing mploy to cast light on an tocritiq contmporary vlopmnts in sociology

Ths in of wor is in n with what Alvin Golnr (970) cal thsociology of sociology" or rxiv sociology" As h n it rxv sociology is concrn with what socologsts want to o an with whatin fact thy actaly o in th worl" (Golnr 970 489). Th inivialsociologist s th focs of Golnr's sociology of socioogy

irr Bori also wors within th ralm of th socology of socoogyas part of his broar concrns with th cational systm an cltralcapital n ation to sng th trm sociology of socology" Borialso labls his analyss of sociology socioanalyss" or rxivity"( 984 5). Bori ( l 984a x placs th sociology of sociology as o

at th vry cntr of th isciplin social scnc may xpct to rv itsmost cisiv progrss from a constant ffort to nrta a sociologcalcritiq of sociologcal rasoning" Mor rcntly an mor stronglyBor (Bor an Wacqant 992 68) says bliv that the





sociology of sociology is a fundamental dimension of sociological epistemology Far rom bing a spcialty among othrs, it is th ncssary prrqisito any rigoros sociological practic"

oris approach is broar an mor complx than GolnrsWhil ori os acknowlg th importanc o xamining inivial

sociologists (at last as typs, his main ocs is on th largr social orcsthat propl thm an bcom mb nconsciosly in what thy o

Sociological rasoning taks plac within, an is act by, strctralcontxts an it is p to th sociologist to analys th natr o thosstrctrs, or th social trminants o sociological thoght" (ori, 990: 84 Ths social strctrs ar rlat to th nrlying strctrs osociological thoght which ar scrib as nthoght catgoris othoght which limit th thinkabl an prtrmin th thoght" (ori, cit in Wacqant, 992 40 Thr is a rlationship btwn objctiv

social strctrs an mntal strctrs an it is p to th sociologist osociology to ncovr th natr o that rlationship

ori sks ar mor than simply th sty o th rlationship btwnth social an th mntal strctrs o sociologists H rgs pistmological vigilanc" (984a: xiii; h instrcts th sociologist to s sociologyas a wapon against yorsl, an instrmnt o vigi lanc" (ori, 99027 Sociologi sts ar ncorag to b continally snsitiv to th way socialstrctrs act, somtims avrsly, what thy think an o yon that,th sociologist is ncorag to try to gain control ovr th cts o social

trminisms which act both his worl, an, nlss xtrm cation isobsrv, scintic iscors itsl (ori, 984a: xiiiook at in oris trms, th obctivs o tis captr ar t lp

sociologists to nrstan how McDonaliation (as a social trminism"is acting th l in gnral as wll as th ways in which thy think anact , to bcom mor vigilant abot ths cts, an to nabl thm to bginto control this impact an to amliorat its ngativ cts t as oripoints ot, sch cts ar lt not only in sociology, bt in all scinticls hs, th implications o ori s approach, an o this chaptr, goar byon sociology

Th trm mtasociology" actally prats th wispra s o thsociology o sociology" Pal Fry introc th notion in th arly950s by making th argmnt that sociology taks th social worl as itssbjct, whras th sbjct mattr o mtasociology is sociology itsl'( 953/ 965 9 Unortnatly, spit sch a sl bginning, Fry nsp making a als istinction btwn sociology an mtasociology Working with a positivistic orintation, h args that sociology is a scinc anthat mtasociology is an axiliary scinc which rnishs th mthoological principls prsppos by sociology" (953/965: Fry's

position i s istort by this bias an by his sparation o mtasociology romsociology

In my own work, I s th trm mtasociology to man th systmaticsty o sociology in gnral an o its varios componnts" (itr, 99 :




The McDonaldization of American Sociology 37

5). This is in lin wih Frfys niion as wll as wih wha bohGolnr an ori man by h sociology of sociology prfr hrm masociology o h sociology of sociology in orr o issocia ifrom h rivial sis mnion abov an ini wih h lar.nrsingly whil h os no s h rm masociology an prfrs h

sociology of socology ori ss ma" in mch h sam way i iss hr:

Fo me ocioog oght to be meta bt lwys vs-s tse t mt e it ownintment to nd ot what it i and what it i not doing to t to now bettewhee it tand and mt ee a olemical e of the "meta which ee onto objectiize othe (Bodie and Wacqant 199 9)

Thr ar hr basic yps of masociological spcially mahorical yps of work. Thy ir in rms of hir fnamnal obcivs br nrsaning craion of a nw horical prspciv an craion

of a nw ovrarching prspciv or mahory. This chapr falls wihinh rs cagory an ss a horical ia McDonalizaion o nhancor nrsaning of sociology in gnral an sociological hory inpariclar.

McDnalzatin an Scilgy

n his masociological xrcs will ry o g a som basic rns inconmporary sociology i s h hsis of his chapr ha sociology can b

sn as simply anohr aspc of h mo worl an ha i lik almos allohrs is nrgoing a procss of McDonalizaion As ori (ori an Wacqan 992 8 2) says in mor gnral rms h sociologyof sociology can ach popl [i. sociologiss] always o b awar hawhn hy say or hink somhing hy can b mov by cass as wll asby rasons." McDonalizaion is on of h ky causes of som rcnvlopmns in socoogy Howvr no all aspcs of h mo worlar McDonaliz o h sam xn. Whil sociology is clarly McDonalizing i s nowhr as McDonaliz as for xampl fasfoo rsarans.n iscssing h McDonalizaon of sociology w ar no saying ha i is

or co vr b flly McDonaliz b ha sociology has com o bcharacriz a las o som gr by h maor lmns of McDonalizaion an ha hr is vinc ha i is moving in h ircion of frhrMcDonalizaion

McDonalizaion is on of h cass of a variy of problems ha arplaging h l Whl will focs on hs problms in his chapr ishol b no ha as wih McDonaizaion in gnral (izr 996a: 3 h raionalizaion of sociology is far from having only ngaivffcs on h l Many of h imnsions of McDonalizaion o b

iscss blow bring wih hm a sris of bns o sociology b i isnncssary hr o caalog hm sinc mos ohr sorcs in h lconcnra on hos avanags. Th obciv hr is o highligh hngaiv aspcs





The key o exening he iea of McDonalizaion o socology is anapplicaion of is basic componens o an analysis of crren rens in heel These imensions no only play an imporan analyic role in heiscssion o follow, b he rs for (calclabily, preicabiliy, efciency, an increase conrol over hman npreicabiliy hrogh he

sbsiion of non-hman for hman echnology also help s o explainwhy sociology, as well as mch of he moe worl, is McDonalizingThese imensions represen avanages o be erive from McDonalzaionan, as sch, hey are sogh o by many secors of he moe worl,incling sociology However, hey have varos isavanages ha will beor focs hrogho his iscssion. Frhermore, he h componen, heirraionaliy of raionaliy, allows s o ge a he negaive aspecs ofMcDonalizaion more irecly

The remainer of hs chaper s vie ino hree secions. In he rs,

an longes, eal wh he area of sociology, empircal research ha hasbeen mos affece by McDonalizaon I hen iscss he McDonalizaionof sociology exbooks Finally, I will o a iscssion of socologicalheory an he ways in whch oo, has nergone his process, a leas osome egree

he McDnldiztin Scilgic Reserch

Calculabilityor an emphass on hngs ha can be qanie, on qaniyraher han qaliy, is manifes in mainsream American sociological re

search in several ways Firs of corse, here is an overwhelmng emphasisin he maor oals on ses ha rely on qaniaive, raher hanqaliaive, aa or ha are sricly heoreical in nare Many years ago inFads and Foibles in Mode Sociology, Piirim Sorokn ( 1956) labele hisqanophrenia" an i s far more wiesprea oay han i was in Sorokinsay Qaliaive sies are seen as anachronisic an one ns few of hemin he maor ornals. ven a ornal like Work and Occupations which wasfone, a leas n par, o be an ole for qaliave sies of work has

come o n lile place for sch research in is pages (Abbo, 1993).Joals are likely o ncle a heory essay or wo in mos isses, b heyrarely occpy cener sage The lack of calclabiliy of qaliaive anheoreical essays makes hem o of place in a McDonalize sociology.

esearch ha is likely o be pblshe n he maor oals s ap oinvolve large raher han small samples Sch sies are no only seen asesirable in hemselves, b more imporanly hey are consiere morelikely o yel resls ha are sasically signican This is he parallel ofhe ig Mac phenomenon in fasfoo resarans Js as we assme ha a

ig Mac is goo becase i is bg or ha McDonals more generally msbe goo becase i has sol so many billions of brgers, we assme ha aresearch sy is imporan if i involves a large sample an repors sronglysignican resls In boh conexs qaniy becomes a srrogae measre of





qaliy In oh wods, in boh fasfood saans and sociology a lasin ms of colaions and oh saisical mass), bigg is b"

This mphasis is also manifs in h signicanc placd on obaininglag gans which, a las in pa, pmi h collcion of lag daa bassSdis basd on hs a mo likly o b pbishd in h mao

sociology onals This is bcas sch sdis a sn as dsiabl in hiown igh and bcas hy a mo likly o b basd on lag samps ando podc highly signican sls

hmo, boh sociological sach and McDonald's a affcd byh ida ha i is difcl o assss qaliy dicly, so w ms focs onqaniy insad This is anoh ason fo h compaaiv paciy ofqaliaiv sdis and hoical ssays How is a viw o dg haccacy of hnogaphic dscipions o spson accons? How is aviw o vala h adqacy of a nw hoical pspciv? Sch

dgmns a mad, b hy a difcl o mak and highly sbcivTh sl is ha viws on dif galy in hi valaions acdwih widly vaying opinions, onal dios a likly o pass whn icoms o pblishing hoical ssays o qaliaiv sdis In conas,bcas of h obciv chaac of h nmbs and h saisics,qaniaiv sdis a mo likly o lici simia dgmns fom viws wih h sl ha i is asi fo dios o dcid whichqaniaiv sdis shold, and shold no, b pblishd

A hid, and lss impoan, qaniaiv faco is ha aics nd o b of

a faiy nifom ngh Thos ha a vy long o vy sho a lss iklyo b pblishd Vy sho paps a ofn assmd o lack dph Vylong ssays simply do no ino h aionalizd foma of mos acadmicoas ong paps ha a dmd pbishabl a ikly o b accpdwih h poviso ha hy b shond Sch dcions may wll s ina dclin in qaliy

ngh is also an imporan ciion in h pbicaion of sach aswll as hoical) monogaphs Givn h scalaion in h cos ofpbishing, h dclin in h nmb of pblishs in a highly compiivbsinss, and h fac ha fw sociologiss a willing o shll o $50 omo fo a book, pblishs hav bcom mo cosconscios ongbooks man high coss Pbishs who a sil willing o pblishmonogaphs on insis ha lnghy ons b shond, somims qisbsanially Sch dcions ofn h h qaliy of h wok alhogh iis ha cs somims hp) In addiion, som pblishs sablish wodo pag limis vn bfo books a sbmid fo pblicaion

oh, h is an mphasis among Amican sociologiss on podcinglag nmbs of pblishab paps As odi 984a: 25) ags,sachs sacic all o a display of h amon of wok accomplishd"

This is ad o h Amican sysm of acadmic n and h fac hain many cass mo anion is paid o h qaniy of pblicaions han ohi qaliy I is also linkd o h fac ha i is asy o add p h nmbof a schoas pbicaions, b difcl o assss hi qaliy No long ago,




40 Theoetical Issues

h hn prsin of Sanfor Univrsiy was isrb by a rpor inicaing ha nary haf of facy mmbrs biv ha hir schoary wriingsar mry con an no vaa whn prsonn cisions arma." H scrib his as a banp ia" an sogh o rvrs happaing bif ha coning an wighing ar imporan mans of vaa

ing facy rsarch" (Coopr 1 9 9 1 A2. Th mphasis on qaniy rahrhan qaiy xiss hrogho acamia an is no rsric o socioogy.

Qaniaiv facors omina Amrcan socioogy js as hy n orfasfoo rsarans an h rs of or McDonaizing sociy. An whii is no inviab h mphasis on qaniy on srvs o affc qaiyavrsy

On aspc o h pedictabili of wha Mins ( 1973 ca sanarAmrican socioogy has aray bn och on rsarch arics n ob fairy niform an pricab in ngh As a rs rars can

anicipa wih gra accracy how ong i wi ak o work hir wayhrogh h ypica rsarch pic.

Mor imporany viray a rsarch arics hav a pricab forma rviw of h irar hypohss mhooogy rss abs inrpraion concsion foonos an rfrncs. aing h ypica Amrican rsarch aric offrs h sam kins of graicaion as aing a BigMac for nch Th socioogis knows xacy wha o xpc an whr achcomponn of h aric wi b fon js as h consmr knows ha hBig Mac wi inc a bn brgr pick rish an spcia sac" as

w as whr ach mn is o b fon if on car o consrc hbrgr Thr is gra saisacion in knowing prcisy wha can bxpc n ons nch an n wha on ras bor ar or vn wih hanch Sinc hy ar boh highy raionai a Big Mac an h ypicarsarch aric in an Amrican oa go w oghr a nchim (Inconras i wo b icros o ry o ra h as non-raionaizbooks of Pirr Bori or Jrgn Habrmas ovr sch a nch) I is nico know ha hr wi b no srpriss Big Macs an rsarch aricsamos aways ivr prcisy wha is xpc no ss b aso an

mos ingy an amningy no mor.Th nar of h rviw procss in socioogy ornas nsrs his pr

icabiiy. viwrs n o b ang conribors o h ara wih whichh sbmission is conc; in fac hy ar ofn chosn because hir ownwork is ci in h aric nr consiraion. viwrs n o hav acar sns ha a nw sbmission sho bi pon hir work as w ash inca" raiion o which hy ar par Works ha o no ow oof ha raiion ha o no a a sgh incrmn o wha is aray knownabo a sbjc ar iky o b sn as bing off h wa" an rc o

of han Try origina pics of work hos ha ar npricab" hava har im ning hir way ino h oas Th procs of normascinc hos ha ofr ony sigh rnmns of h ominan paraigmar hos ha ar iky o b accp for pbicaion.





Enir oal isss n o b qi pricabl W know ha ach isswill b omina by qaniaiv sis W can also xpc ha bcasof criicisms of h pr-minnc of qaniaiv paprs, many isss willhav a okn horical an/or qaliaiv ssay.

Th kins of rsarch aricls scrib abov ar ecient in varios

snss Thy can b ra qi xpiiosy Sinc hr is a clar pa oh aricls, h xprinc rar can ra hrogh hm fforlssly.Uniform works can b g far mor qickly han procs ha iffrwilly from on anohr in basic srcr an forma

Sch rsarch aricls can also b wrin fcinly Th ahor knowsh componn pars ha ms b hr, an in which orr, an hos parscan b proc in qi an orrly fashion. In fac, in h likly vn haa nmbr of aricls ar o b proc from h sam sy, a sris ofcomponn pars can b manfacr" an warhos" rviw of h

lirar, mhos, varios abs, rfrncs, an so on an hy can bcar o an insr a h appropria poins in a variy of nishprocs If his commnicas h fl of an assmbly-lin procss i isman o; an his is nhanc whn a am of spciali rsarchrs isinvolv in a proc Th varios pars can b assign o am mmbrsan ach can bcom a kin of spciais h library rsarchr, h aaanalys, h compr spcialis, h wrir, h horician, an so on.This is par of h rason why rsarch aricls in sociology sm o involvmor an mor co-ahors As in h manfacr of aomobils, i is far

mor fcin for a grop of spciaiss o proc rsarch aricls han i isfor a singl gnralis, b sch fcincy carris wih i, as mos sis ofh aomobil insry hav shown, a sris of ysfncions. This prspciv is similar o ori's viw an criiq of h social diision oflabor which splis, ris, an comparmnalis momns of h consrcion o h sociological obc no spara spcialis" acqan, :32.

All his srvs o mak for h fcin rplicaion of sis. Wih all ofh componn pars incl in h pblish aricl in h sal orr, a

rsarchr can rsh o h mai, qicky scan a nw oal for rvansis, hrry off o h compr cnr in sarch of h sam aa s, anrrn h aa aing a fw nw variabls Wihin a fw wks, a rplicaionof a sy, on wih a cn chanc of accpanc bcas i is likly o brviw by h ahor of h sy bing rplica, is in h mail an off oh oal ior pa ovr an ovr, w hav hr a vry fcinmho for biling p a boy of knowlg" on a spcic opic.

Impli abov is a sris of nonhuman technologies ha hav no onlyxr xal conrol ovr sociologiss, b also rc hir imporanc

in h rsarch procss. Th mos noab of hs ar h compr, hcompr program, an h s of incrasingly sophisica saisicsInsa of bing on by h sociologis, a larg porion of a rsarch syis in h hans of comprs, compr programmrs, cann programs an





saisical packags Ths chnoogis nd o mak sdis mor qaniaiv in characr, mor prdicabl sinc larg nmbrs of popl havaccss o h sam non-hman chnologis, and mor fcin o prodcsinc a good dal of wha on nds is in hos chnologis

ordi, Chambordon and Passron ( 99 : 5 also dscrib h conm

porary rlianc in sociology on scinic rcips and laboraory gadgs,"and criiq h blind sbmission o chnica insrmns" (99 0, aswl as hir ndncy o rdc or limina scinic craiviy Thyarg: Thos who psh mhodoogical conc o h poin of obsssionar ik Frd's pain who spn all his im claning his spcacls andnvr p hm on" (ordi a., 99: 5

sarch in conmporary Amrican sociology has, and in my opinion oan incrasing dgr h for basic characrisics of McDonaldizaiondiscssd abov sociological rsarch, ik mos ohr aspcs of conm

porary sociy has bcom McDonadizd, a as o som xn Howvr, as in h rs of sociy, raionalizaion lads dialcically o is mirorimag h irtionali of this tional system for prodcing and dissminaing nw sociological knowldg.

On of hs irraionaliis is h lvling of sociology arond h world(s Chapr 4 for a mor daid discssion of his iss, a las as iapplis o sociological hory McDonaldizaion, in gnral, dos hav scha lvling ffc For xampl h sprad of fas-food rsarans hroghoh Unid Sas has rdcd h signicanc of rgiona cisin Thos

rgional cisins ha ar McDonaldizd bcom so raionalizd ha hylos many of hir disinciv characrisics: h Can food srvd byPopy's is a far cry fom is prognio in Loisiana In h sam way, insocioogy h modl of h Amrican rsarch aricl has ndd o prodccons hrogho h word: h rsarch aric pblishd in a ropanoal looks mch ik is Amrican conrpar Frhrmor, h rsarchams and h rsarch sps ar vry mch h sam on boh sids of hAanic

Th mos gnral irraionaliy of raionaliy is dhmanizaion As Takaki(990 ix p i, as a rs of raionalizaion Th slf was placd in

connmn, is moions conrolld, and is spiri sbdd." Fas-foodrsarans ar dhmanizing for boh workrs and dinrs Th workr isrdcd o a cog in a hambrgr assmbly lin or o a mindlss aomaonpassing hos hambrgrs on o csomrs Dining, oo is rdcd o anassmbylin lik xprinc h bs xamp bing food obaind a hdriv-hrogh window and consmd on h mov whil on hads on oh nx raionalizd aciviy. W hav alrady ochd on h assmby-linprodcion of rsarch arics. Mor gnrally, wha is lchd o ofh rsarch procss in a McDonaldizd sociology is hman craiviy, h

craiviy of h individal sociologis (again for mor on his, s Chapr4 ordi is a criic of h loss of h ar of socioogy in h fac of hsprad of nmbing sociological roins. For xampl, h dscribs Frnchacadmia in gnral as a word wiho srpriss" (ordi, 984a 53





This is vey close to the peictable McDonalize wol being escibehee In contast oie (1990: 26) says Fo me intellectal life isclose to the atist 's l ife than to the otines of an acaemic eistence." Thisemphasis on at" by oie (as wel as by icha Mnch; see Chapte4) leas to the isse of whethe this chapte is st anothe assalt on the

inceasing emphasis on science in sociology especially in Khns( 19621970) tems on noma science."

efoe we eal with that qestion a boae isse nees to be aesseis science itself ne attack hee? Science oes have the basic chaacteistics iscsse above calclabil ity peictability efciency an sbstittion of non-hman fo hman technoogy This shol come as no spisesince science can be seen as one of the pecsos of the ationalizationpocess (see Chapte 2 in The McDonaldization of Sociey fo a iscssion ofothe pecsos) Thee is no qestion that science (as well as each of its

basic chaacteistics) has been in the main a highly positive evelopment.nee it is always impotant to ecognize that in al ealms ationalizationan its elements have a wie vaiety of positive conseqences This sholnot blin s to the fact that in science in geneal an in sociology inpaticla ationalization also has negative effects.

The poblem is not simply these chaacteistics bt the ecessive elianceon them an oveemphasis on qantiable eseach; the qest fo evebigge an bette" sties an eslts; a caeeistic conce with pocinglage nmbes of pblishable sties; the slavish epenence on a peict

able fomat in the pblication of eseach eslts; the ove-confomityenfoce by ecessive eliance on the pee eview pocess; the focs on thepoction of woks that ae efcient to wite eview an ea; an oveelaboate ivision of labo; too mch emphasis on the efcient eplication ofpeviosly pblishe eseach; an an inceasing eliance on non-hmanechnie ha en ece he e playe by hman ceaiiy inscience.

The poblem in sociology is that it has often emlate the wost ecessesof scientic ationality As in all sciences thee ae both avantages an

isavantages to ationalization bt in sociology the penlm seems to beswinging angeosly in the iection of the isavantages of scienticationality t may be that the eason fo this is that the elements of scientic ationality wok best in nomal science. Howeve to o nomal sciencethee mst be a paaigm an most obseves agee that sociology lacks aominant paaigm (itze 19751980) Withot a paaigm nomal science becomes a kin of paoy of itsef. The ationa tappings ae thee btthee is no paaigm to esh ot an evelop Fthemoe nomal sciencepespposes pevios beakthoghs an pesages othes. Howeve sociol

ogy lacks the pevios beakthoghs leaing to a ominant paaigm so it ishighly nlikely that nomal science will lea to late beakthoghs nsociology the italistic following of the ational canons of nomal scienceoes little moe than militate against the kin of atistic" thinking neee to




44 Theoretica Iue

creae a paraigmaic revolion or more appropriaely in sociology heiscipline's rs re" a leas in he pre Khnian sense paraigm

The raionalize pracices o science especially in heir excessive ormsare not appropriae o conemporary sociology. O corse hey are aisavanage in any science b he esablishe sciences can olerae hem

beer. Sociology seems o have aope hese raionalize rappings wihohaving he nowlege base or paraigm o bil pon. Wheher or no hereaer sees sociology as a science in he Khnian sense o he erm oragrees ha i shol be a science given he realiies o conemporarysociology here is oo mch reliance on McDonalize proceres an oolile non-McDonalize arisic creaiviy I shol no be orgoenhowever ha all goo science involves a soli mix o arisic creaiviyespecially ring revolionary perios) an raionalize proceres especially ring he normal science phase)

The McDnaldizatin f Scilgy Textbks

The preceing iscssion has single o empirical sociology as he basiono McDonalizaion in American sociology. While I hin i is i is also reha oher aspecs o American sociology have become raionalize. Forexample elsewhere izer 988) I have aace he procion o wha Icalle cooie-cer" exboos in sociology especially inrocory exs.Pressres rom pblishers reviewers an aopers lea relenlessly o a

epressing sameness a leveling a high egree o preicabiliy in cooiecer exboos Pblishers are highly ane o heir compeiors' besselling exs When a paicla exboo sch as ohn Macioniss o AnhonyGiens's in inrocory sociology is a big hi compeiors see oiscover he acors ha mae i sch a sccess an hen se abo pblishingclones When a ra o he new" boo is evenally proce prepblicaion reviewers are ase o loo or cerain hings especially hosehings ha mae he leaing ex sch a grea sccess When reviewersncover elemens ha are missing he ahors are presse by he pblishero incle hem so ha in he en he new ex loos epressingly lie is

sccessl preecessor. epeae over an over many exs come o loolie every oher one Aopers also play a ey role in he leveling oexboos In many cases aopers preer o se well-worn lecre noes anhis leas hem o preer o conine o se he same ex or i hey changeo aop a ex ha closely resembles an ollows he previosly se ex

Texboos also en o conain he oher elemens o raionalizaion. Thereis a srong emphasis on qaniy in sch hings as lengh o chapers lengho he ex as a whole reaing level a 0h- or l h-grae 6 year ols)reaing level is preerre) an mos imporanly sales oos ha sell well

irespecive o qaliy will go hrogh mliple prinings an eiionsoos ha are high in qaliy b low in sales qicly isappear rompblishers' liss. ciency is manies in he emphasis on boos ha areeasier boh o proce an o rea The se o several ahors an even





eams of ahos, he conscon of socalle csomze books wh eachchaper wren by a een ahor, an pocon of manage books" nwhch professonal wres wok fom noes an olnes prove by one omoe socologss, all reec he emphass on efcency The books sholalso be efcen eang eally, sens shol be able o sal hrogh he

ex wh he same kn of efcency ha pems hem o gle pas herfavore fasfoo ven wnow.

s fcl for pblshes o se nonhman echnologes o omnaehe pocon of exbooks, b hee have been some ncsons. Forexample, he sccess of an nocoy exbook ofen epens as mch ormoe on he echnologes ha are avalable wh han on he qaly of heex self. Sch echnologes ncle CDoms, compeze esbanks,compeze sen pojecs, veo an ao apes Whle hese, lke allechnologes, have been poce by people, hey each sens as non

hman echnologes n whch he sen s lef o neac wh a compegenerae mlple choce es, a comper screen, or a veo mono

Ths, of corse, leas o he raonaly of he raonaly of exbooksmple above s he ehmanzaon assocae wh moe exbooks.Texbooks en o be pocs n whch all aces of a sncve ahoalvoce have been elmnae A blan, eaable, almos mechancal ex spefere o one ha eecs an aho's sncve syle. Dehmanzaoncan also be assocae wh he nceasng egee o whch sens neracwh compe sceens o veo monos, ahe han wh hman n

srcors ehmanzaon, whle s he mos exeme raonaly, sno he only raonaly assocae wh exbooks Fo example, heqanave pessre o poce books a a 0h o hgrae reang levelenforces sen ncapaces aher han seekng o elevae hem To akeone ohe example, he nee o wre own o sens eces he emanson ahos an heefoe oes no flly explo he capaces as wrers anas socologiss n ohe wors, mos exbook wers are capable of oingfar more han hey ae peme o o n he wng of exbooks. Oherraonalies assocae wh exbooks col easly be enmeae, b heabove sfce for o prposes

efoe movng on shol be noe ha exbooks themseles ae a parof he process of McDonalzaon. They reec he vew ha s nefcenfor sens o have o rea ognal works nsea, s lef o exbookahos o rea hose woks, o smmarze hem, an o pesen hem n apalaable way o sens. Accsome o eaefrenly exbook smmaes, sens wll n fcl, f no mpossble, eve o ea orgnalwoks.

The McDnaldzatn f Sclgcal Thery

wol be easy o smss he vews expesse above, especally onempcal socology, snce am so nvolve n socologcal heoy n oeo make hose vews moe ceble, an o emonsae he exen of he




46 Theoretical ue

McDonaliaon of sociology, l m now o is impac on sociologicalhory. Lik Parisian croissans, is ifcl o hink of hory bcomingMcDonali, b as wih hos coissans, ha is wha has occrr, alas o som xn

is possibl o rac h crn low sa of Amrican sociological

hory, a las n par, o s McDonaliaion h maor Amricanhoriss of h rcn pas wr ciy non-raonal n h way hyproc hory an in h horis hy cra In mos cass hr smo b lil conc for h amon of work proc or h maximiaon ofh fcincy of s procon. Mos of oay's non-hman chnologiswr ihr nonxisn, or in hi prmiiv sags, an h chnologis ofh ay (mainly h ypwrr w conroll by h ahors rahr hanconrolling hm As a rs of h minmal raionaiaion of horyprocon, hr wr fw rraionaiis of raionaliy assoca wih i. In

h main, hory mrg, ofn oosly, from h craiv nllcalimplss of h horis For xampl, Gorg Hrbr Ma wro raivyl in hs fm; hs maor wok, Mind Se and Society was procby his sns, from cass nos, afr his ah. Hrbr lmr asoproc a rlavly small nmbr of ssays in his lifim. obr Mron,alhogh mor prociv, ofn scrib how slow, laborios an painsaking i was for him o proc his work. rving Goffmans work is soiiosyncrac ha i s raionaliaon aco Parsons, of cors, proc a volmnos amon of work, b i oo is highly iiosyncraic

Frhrmor, i is har o imagin his lnghy, convol pros bingpblish oay. Mo pblishrs wol hav prss Parsons o shornhis manscrips ramaically an wol hav ma rar s of copyiors o mak h pros lss absrs an, mor imporanly, lss isinciv.

how, spcicaly, is McDonaliaion manfs n conmporarysocologcal hory? Afr a, i s far mor ifcl o raonali ahorical work han an mpirca sy Nvrhlss, raionaiaion haaffc horical works in varios ways For on hing, an array ofprssrs la Amrican horiss o vo mor anion han hirropan conrparts o h procon of oa articls rahr han booksh rac for nr an promoion in Amrcan acamia is omina byh mol cra by mpircal rsarchrs an h n o hav a crainnmbr of arics in major, rfr joals o comp wh hrmpircally orin collags, horiss ar rivn o ry o proc a knmbr of arcls Howvr, hoca ias ar ofn ifc o collapsino h pag limis impos by h arcl forma; h naral hom forworks of hory hrogho h hsory of socology, an in rop oay, ish book-lngh manscrip Howvr, h cas of an mprically orin

iscplin la o h viw ha i is h aricl in a rfr oa ha is hcoin of h ralm Frhrmor, books ar sspc in highly raonaliiscplins hy sm o bong mor o lss raonali s liklirar, hisory or phlosophy han o a raionali scinc.





Divn o wi sho aicls, Amican hoiss ms s a modidvsion of h aionalizd foma mployd by mpiiciss Thy ms aa s of complx idas and divid hm p ino a sis of bisizd hoyMcNggs" Whil hy may b asy, mo asily podcd and moasily digsd, sch bis of hoy a no lily o b as noishing as h

complx idas dvlopd in h mo sbsanial hoical monogaphsbing d o by hi Eopan ps

n podcing aics ha incld a hoical ngg o wo, and insbmiing hm o joals, hoiss a sbjcing hi wo o h samind of viw pocss ha lads o h aionalizaion of mpiical wosThoical ssays ha psn small incmns in nowldg o an xanhoical adiion a hos ha a lily o b accpd fo pblicaion.To hav sch wos accpd, h aho ms b cafl o ill oldhoical gond in h pscibd way and o ci all h igh" socs.

n oh wods, hoiss a pssd in h dicion of confoming o hdicas of Khn's 1962/1970 noma scinc" Th sl is ha a gooddal of h non-aional a and caiviy of hoizing is daind fom schwo

aionalizaion has also ld o h pblicaion in Amican sociologyjoals of a paicla ind of hoy On aly ss in hos joalsoiginal hois, o vn novl hoical idas. Wha do g pblishd amahoical wos ha smmaiz and/o ciiq h wo of ohsocological hoiss. Sch wos a lagly xgss on h wo ofhoical ancsos and conmpoais wihin Amican o Eopanhoy Sch wos a abo hoy, hy a sdis of hoy, ah hanbing oiginal pics of hoizing Whil nw hoical idas can comfom sch xgss a good xampl fom h pas is Pasonss TheStructure of Social Action 1937, h fac is ha h n in nw hoicalidas fom cn ssays of his gn has bn slim, if no non-xisn

Th is, of cos, also a p viw pocss in h pblicaion of boosdvod o hoy Howv, h na of ha viw pocss is somwhadiffn, and viws of boos loo fo diffn hings han viws ofssays fo h majo joals This is vn whn h sam viw dos

boh To p i simply, mo iaionaliis a pmissibl in boolnghmanscips ngh and foma a lss impoan Th is nogh spac odvlop mo flly a nw hoical ida o pspciv Whil, as w sawabov, boo podcion has bn aionaizd, i spcially monogaphpblishing has no bn McDonaldizd o naly h dg ha aiclpodcion has bn aionalizd Th fac ha Amican hoiss a focdo dvo fa mo anion o wiing ssays fo joals, and lss o boolngh manscips, hlps o accon fo h aionalizaion of Amicanhoy and xplains why i has sffd in compaison o Eopan hoy

Anoh aspc of h McDonaldizaion of Amican sociological hoyis h fac ha o sccd, an Amican hois has had o b sn as pa ofan xan adiion Hisoically, his has ld o spcializaion wihin sociological hoy a hois was idnid as a scal fncionalis, a





Cnclusin

Whil h hs of his chap has bn o scib h McDonalizaion ofsociology sociology has no an can nv b McDonaliz o h gha fas-foo saans an oh aspcs of mo sociy hav bn.

h pocss has affc sociology an is impac is conining o spa.Th poin of his iscssion is boh o scib his pocss fo h gnala an o wa sociologiss abo wha is occing an o g hm opacic in oi' s ms vigianc concning his vopmn Abova again folowing oi an Wacqan 992: 183, yo h sociologis ms o avoid being the toy of social forces in your pctice ofsociology Givn is bah an pow i is possibl o bcom a m oyin h lag pocss of h McDonalizaion of sociology

This bings s o h nal obciv of his chap is conibion o o

nsaning of h cn cisis in sociology Th a som who s hclosing of on sociology pamn an cions in h siz of ohs assigns of p poblms in h l Ths ifcis a sn as makingsociology vy vlnabl in a pio of acamic cs sing fom bgshofals. Whil hs fas a in my opinion ovsa h arepoblms in sociology an McDonalizaion is on of hm iy hfowa mach of McDonalizaion will la sociology fh away fomcaiviy an mo owa h picabiliy an nifomiy of wok on hacamic assmbly lin" To h g ha h wok of sociologiss

bcoms picab an ncaiv mo an mo aminisaos will askwhy hy n sch popl o a as why hy n so many of hmCaiv schoas a inispnsabl b as on h naions aomobilassmbly lins h val of hos who pfom highly oiniz wok canb qsion mo asily and hy a asi o plac

Whi h hs of aionalizaion hoy las o pssimism his ahohops ha h hoy is wong a las in his ga. A all i is hmanbings who li bhin h pocion of a aionaliz sociy in gnal ana aionaliz sociology in paicla Hmans poc his wol hisoically an hy poc i on a aiy basis Hnc hy hav h capaciyo chang hos pocs i social scs hav bn poc bas h hisoy of h fom Sovi Union monsas i scs canb molish. Howv i is impoan o no ha Sovi scs wisincly non-aionaliz an i may hav bn his ha ma hmlaivy asy o bing own. aionaliz scs following Wb afa mo ifc o soy Sociologiss can bing own hos scshy can in Gomans m b angos gians" In fac i may b habcas hy nsan h social pocsss involv bcas hy canbing socioogical ools o ba on sociology hy a in a ly isinciv

posiion o soy h scs poc o a las o miiga hi woscs Sociologiss on invigh agains a pblic ha minlssly accpsh aionaliz scs in which hy xis. Howv hos ciiqscanno b sn as cib nil sociologiss hmslvs ac o ovcom h




50 Theoetical ssues

raionaliz sysms ha consrain hm an hir work. In such acionsmay b h rs of wha coul ulimaly bcom a wi-scal assaul on hraionaliz sysms ha incrasingly conrol vry fac of our livs Iwoul b h rs o accp h ia ha such a scnario is arfchHowvr a basic prmis of sociology is ha all social sysms ar human

consrucions an ha hy can hrfor b consruc!Unlik many similar ffors, h goal of his criiqu is no o bring

sociology o is kns; hr ar alray oo many popl an forcs innon aaining ha obciv. In lin wih Wacquans (1992 36 connionabou ourius masociology his chapr sks no o assaul bu obuttess the epistemological secuity of sociology Th ulima obcivhr is o hlp buil sociology by waing of h procss of McDonalizaion an suggsing ha is avrs cs can b minimiz an conroll. In rms of his work, ouriu (ouriu an Wacquan 1 992 2 1 1

says I coninually us sociology o ry o clans my work of h socialrminans ha ncssarily bar on sociologiss." Pu in hos rms, hobc of his chapr is o hlp sociologiss clans" h ngaiv ffcs ofon o h maor conmporary rminans McDonalizaion o wha isaking plac in h morn worl in gnral an mo sociology inparicular.

Finally, a wor abou h sociology o sociology, or masociology anis ba nam in h isciplin As poin ou abov h sociology ofsociology conribu o is poor rpuaion wih h rivialiy of many of is

works Howvr hr is anohr facor in is lack o accpanc sociologiss hav long bn rsisan o applying hir own ools o hmselves seei theseles as bin ac by h sam sial forcs haafc vryon ls Wacquan (1992 43 maks his poin in iscussingouriu s approach

Soioogial reexii insan raises haes beause i reresens a fronalaa on he sared sense of indiiduai ha is so dear o all o us Wesernersand ariuarl on he harismai sefoneion of ineleuals who lie ohin of hemsees as undeermined "reeoaing and endowed wih a form ofsmboi grae

This chapr as wll as h sociology o sociology impli in i is likly orais h hackls" of sociologiss by associaing hm wih a rn of whichmos of hm ar likly o b criical an wih which hy o no wish o bassocia. , i is ncssary for sociologiss o rcogniz ha hy ar noimmun o his wiraching rn an ha in orr o bgin o counraci hy mus b awar o is incursions ino h har of hir own isciplin.A grar awarnss of his will hlp sociologiss o s h imporanc in h ncssiy of uing hir inllcual ools on hmslvs

Nte

woud e to hank Ma Aahaon oAnn eFoe and Ken Kaeye fo a ne ofefu uggeton on an eae daft of hi chapte




The McDonaldization of merican Sociology 5

On xcpon o hs (an h a ohs s h wok nsp by Thomas Khns 96/ 970 phosophy o scnc, spcay Rob chss 1 970 book (whch ,ncnay s n A Slg Slg. S aso my own wok on h paagmacsas o socoogy, spcay Slg A Multpl Padgm Sn (Rz, 1975980an Tad an Ingtd Slgal Padgm (Rz, 1981.

n ac, Bo cczs as nacsssc hos masocoogss who ocs xcsvy

on h nva socoogs.3. Howv, sho b pon o ha Bo (Bo an Wacqan, 1 99 1 9 ss ma o man abov, wh s o man comng a Nvhss, a s s ca omh oowng qoaon, h kn o anayss conmpa s h sam n boh cass

4. O, pnng on ons pspcv, h posmo wo (Lyoa, 979 984; Shon,ohcomng. o mo on h posmo vw, s Chap 9.

5 sho b no ha h ns o b scss bow psn, n h man, mysbcv vws abo hm. wo b s o ohs o nak sach ss ama ascanng h vay as w as h vay o h ova hss abo McDonazaon

6. Th a Amcan jonas sch as Qualtatv Slg ha pbsh qaav

ss an h s ga mphass on sch wok n oh cons (g. Ga Ban.7 On xcpon s h Jn 99 ss o Sal Pshlg Quartrl vo ohoca ssays.

8. Ahogh, sho sach acs may b pbsh as sach nos9 Insngy, socoogy ags bhn vn mo aona soca scncs k psycho

ogy on h ss o pap ngh n psychoogy h nom ns o b vy sho, hghyon sach paps ha can b a vy qcky an cny.

1 0 Onc agan, mo aonaz s k psychoogy sm o b aha o socoogyon h nmb o acs coaho by ong ss o pop.

. Ahogh, as w saw a, Bo s aso cca o Fnch socoogy o bng awo who spss

1 Th a, o cos, xcpons o hs (o xamp h wok o Josph Bg an hscoags on xpcaon sas: Bg a, 1989 as w as a oh gnaaons mahogho hs chap.

1 3 As was qo n an ac on h sa o h , Th s no qson ha h apobms n h . B on hnk hy a pobms ha psn h mmnnms o ssoon o cn o socoogy (c n Coghn, 99 AA7




4

Munch(ng) on McDonald(zaton) of Socal Theory

ichar Mnch ( 991 1993) raws on my work o arg ha Amricansocial hory has bn McDonaliz Wihn ha conx h is concwh h fac ha i has, in his vw, bn sanariz (in mch h way hig Mac s ma o niform sanars aron h wor. Of vn grar

conc o Mnch is h fac ha Amrcan socioogy is bsy xporing ssanariz approach o social hory o h rs of h worl, spciayrop. This in of argmn s in vry wll wh wo of my gnralargmns abo McDonalizaion. Fis, h McDonalizaion procss saffcng many iffrn scors of sociy, incling acama in gnraan social hory in paricar. Scon, h princips ha li a h bas ofh sccss of h Amrcan fasfoo insry ar bing xpor o manyohr sociis

Mnch (lik m is no mry scribing a bnign procss, b cricay

analysing on wih a srs of nforna consqncs. Whi n manyways highly sirabl an allrng h prncipls of McDonalizaion bringwih hm a ss o raonas Wha Mnch has on s o mphason of hos irraionaliis h loss of craiviy On h on han, Mnchs arging ha Amrican socia hory has alray os mch of s cravy.On h ohr han, h xporaion of h Amrican way of oing hory ishraning h cravy of horng in ohr pars of h worl, spciayrop

Mnch is nrs spcicaly n h Amrcanaion of ropan sociahory sinc h n of Worl War H s anima by wha h ss as hrimnal ffcs" of Amrcan hgmony on socal hory hroghoh worl n his viw, hs rimnal ffcs ar largly h rsl of hngav impac of profssiona Amrican sociology on h morarisc works" of ropan socioogss. Mor spccay, h args haprofssional" Amrican socologiss hav proc a sanarizqaiy-approv" proc (spcially aricls in h American SociooicaReview an h American Journa of Sociooy an hy hav ssmnaha proc aron h worl. Mnch nks his ircy o h ia ofMcDonalaon:

ach arcle has the same format ad quait garateed b a rofessioa sstemo editors ad reiewers he effect o word socoog s the same as that ofMcoad's worldwde s of the same qualtaroed hamburger or theword ecoom . . . the stadarded artce of the Amran Sga Rw




Munching on McDonaldization 53

is h common lifwo of socioogists hroghot th worl s as McDonal shamrgr is th common lif-worl of fast-foo consmrs vrywhr nRitzr (983 has rfrr to th phnomnon as th "McDonalizaion of hworl

,, r w can spa of th McDonldzton of world ocolog origina

ing from th highly profssionaliz an stanaiz wor proc y Amican socioogy parmnts

On can conin h anaogy y saying hat h avag Amrican socioogistwors li an mploy of McDonas a am-wor who is ica toprocing on hamrg-i aricl aftr anothr, accoring to h sam qaitysanars Th consqnc is a mch grat sanarization of sociologicalpocs han xists i n Eopan sociology a lving in which th is no placfor h xcpiona. ( 99 3 1 8 ialics a)

Trning o mor rcn vlopmns in Amrican sociology, Mnchnrscors h ris of h conomic paraigm in gnral an raional choichory in pariclar This, oo is, in his viw, associa wih McDonalizaion

Thr is also a McDonal 's ffct associat with h sccss of raiona choichoy Bcas i is th most xacy an prcisly fomat hory it can rproc an appli to a grat vaiy of social phnomna in th sam wayan withot any ifrnc in qaliy al ovr h worl. is a stanarizpoc that can proc an appli vrywhr with only minimaltaining in thortical sils Th hory os no rqir a pr sty of iscra an phiosophica acgron cas th cltr of conomism hasxpan thogho th wol McDonals is now prsn all ovr h woan vyon nstans h na of conomic ansacions Th naltrimph of Ws capiaism ovr h Commnist worl has ron own h

as arr to h ctr of conomism tha is why rational choic hory wi vn mor sccssfl in h coming cas (Mnch 1 99 1 : 3 9

Mnch is criiqing h McDonalizaion of sociology in mch hsam way ha ohr Eropans hav aack h mor gnral spra ofMcDonalizaion o h coninn s Chapr 6) For xampl, in a criiqof anohr laing aspc of or McDonalizing worl amsmn parksspcially hos cra by Disny a Frnch socialis poliician sai a hopning of Ero Disny ha i will bombar Franc wih proo craionsha ar o clr wha fas foo is o gasronomy" iing, 992 Al3

Exning his on col say ha Mnchs ssnial poin is ha Amricansociology is an proo craion" ha is o is Eropan conrpars whaMcDonals is o Eropan cisin

H sms o s som hop in Amrican sociology, spcially in h workof Amrican horiss mb in h Eropan raiion an in ha ofEropans working n Amrican sociology Howvr, boh of hs bass foropimism ar viw as ransplans an no as naiv Amrican procsThs, hy ar no accor mch of a chanc of smming h i in hircion of raionalizaion Th highly profssionaliz Amrican sysmof sociology will inevitably xr is sanarizing fcs on h Eropanimplans" Mnch, 99 330

Mnch 99 329 concls ha Erop ms rsis h McDonalizaion of social hory Eropan sociology ns o rsis his rn js asErop inviably has o rsis McDonalizaion of is clr as a whol in





oe o peseve ivesiy fo isef an fo he wo" Howeve hisesisance is no going o be easy becase, among ohe hings Eopeansocioogy now has inigenos McDonas simpy becase of heominaion by Ameican socioogy" Mnch 1991 330) . Weaening heabiiy of Eopean socioogy o esis is he exisence of a Toan hose" in

is mis in he fom of socia heoiss who have been afice by heAmeican isease"

Given he sanaizaion of Ameican socia heoy, Mnch pins hishopes on he ineeae ivesiy" of Eopean an moe geneay wo,socioogy Whie Mnch ecognizes ha Eopean heoy nees o emaehe Ameicans an become moe pofessionaize, i aso ms see aninensicaion of exchange compeiion commnicaion, an coopeaionamong he eaivey ivie pas of Eope, ye wiho epicaing heAmeican pah of pofessionaizaion by sanaizaion" Mnch, 99 1

329. Eopean heoiss ae ge o aw on he ivese esoces of hevaiey of naiona aiions o be fon on hei coninen In efec, heanswe o he nifomiy of Ameican socia heoy is he ivesiy ofEopean heoy abei in a pofessionaize fom

Mnchs agmen is in many ways a egiimae exension of heMcDonaizaion hesis o socia heoy in genea an Eopean sociaheoy in paica As is cea in he peceing chape, I am sympaheicwih Mnchs inees in he pocess an his concen abo is negaiveeffecs Howeve, his agmen is no wiho is weanesses Fo exampe,

his escipion of he sanaize Ameican oa aice appies fa beeo hose epoing on empiica eseach han i oes o heoeica essayshoa ay a fa le liel o foow a sana pae fa lelikel o be mee cones of one anohe Inee, Mnch ( 198 , 1 982 is weawae of his since he pbishe a enghy an highy nsa wopa essayon Pasonsian heoy in he American Joual of Sociolog His escipionof Ameican socioogiss as eamwoes ping ogehe socioogicawos in a manne simia o he way McDonas empoyees assembehambges aso appies fa bee o empiica eseaches han o heoissOne is ha-pesse o hin of many, if any, heoeica eams" invove inping ogehe a seies of wos

Howeve, my mao isageemen wih Mnch is ove his conenion hapofessionaizaion is ine o he sanaizaion an moe geneay o heMcDonaizaion of Ameican socia heoy I o no see pofessionaizaion as an inega pa of he pocess of aionaizaion; inee, in manyways hey ae in conic aionaizaion is ofen ine o beacaizaion;in fac, he wo ae cosey inewine in Webes wo Howeve, beacacies an pofessions ae in many ways iffeen mehos of oganizingwo Fo exampe, beacacies see op-own cono, oen by nonpofessiona manages whie he pofessions see aonomy an sefcono The pofessions have ofen esise beacaizaion, anaionaizaion moe geneay When hey o fa pey o hese winpocesses, he es is ofen a pocess of epofessionaizaion In ohe




Munching on McDonaldization 55

wos, aionalizaion las o h loss of a las som g of pofssionalizaion (iz an Waczak, 988) is no pofssionalizaion, baionalizaion, ha is h soc of h poblms in Amican sociologyiscss by Mnch

n sppo of his viw is h fac ha fasfoo saans, an mos oh

McDonaiz sysms, a no havns of pofssiona mploymn ah,hy a chaaciz by McJobs" (s Chap 5) an in mos, if no all,snss of h m, pofssional" occpaions a h anihsis of McJobsFo xamp, hos who hol McJobs hav vially no aonomy whilhos who wok in h pofssions sk an, a las aiionally, hav ahigh g of aonomy. Fo anoh, h pofssions possss, a lasially, gnal sysmaic knowlg, whas McJobs involv, a bs, hspcic knowlg associa wih, fo xampl, ipping hambgs

Howv, i is woh noing ha h a signs ha h pofssions a no

immn o McDonalizaion n micin, fo xampl, h amaic incas in manag ca" is pshing physicians o opa mo fciny,o mak hi aciviis mo caclabl an picab, an in h icionof bing mo conoll by non-hman chnoogis W vn hav hincasing psnc of McDocos, o ivin mica cns ha in manyways smbl fas-foo saans Whil h pofssions may b ngoing McDonalizaion, hy a not as Mnch sggss, an ingal pa ofh pocss of aionalizaion.

Ciicisms lik hs asi, vinc o sppo Mnchs basic hsis

abons in conmpoay social hoy On h on han, Amican socialhoy has bn avsly ac by h sanaizaion scib byMnch. As poin o in h pcing chap, i is ifcl o hink ofmo han a fw, if any, conmpoay Amican social hoiss who aoing h kin of innovaiv, gonbaking wok ha is likly o hav apowfl nnc on h cos of social hoy (viw nivsally) ovh nx sval cas On h oh han, h is a laivly long is ofinnovav opan hinks who a likly o hav a powfl impac onwol socia hoy Mos of hm ih i h blk of hi wok bfoh McDonalizaion of h coninn was fa avanc o w abl ova h impac of sanaiz Amican sociology. Of cos, Mnchsfa is ha McDonalizaion will sv o chok o his innovaivnss ani is ha which h is sggling o pvn

Why has Amican social hoy los is pminnc in cn cas?Why has socia hoy com, onc again, o b omina by opans?Th a nobly many asons fo his, b a las on of hm is hMcDonalizaion of Amican sociy in gna an acamia in paiclan fac, h is an spa of his pocss in h 950s an 960s iscoincin wih h bginning of h mis of h hgmony of Amican

socia hoy. am cainly no sggsing ha McDonalizaion is h solcas of his cin, b h is an insing colaion bwn hm

Mnch has och on only on faco in his clin in his iscssion ofh sanaizaion of Amican sociology This is a faco ina o




56 Theoetica ssues

sociology, b hr ar many ohr inrnal facors ha h col associawih h McDonalizaion of Amrican social hory Mor imporanly,Mnch has ha nohing o say abo h McDonalizaion of h largrsociy in which Amrican horiss opra Toay s Amrican horisshav bn rais in a McDonaliz sociy, rain in McDonaliz

schools an nivrsiis, mploy by McDonaliz insiions of highrlaing, an ar paricipans in h incrasingly McDonaliz isciplin ofsociology. Th rsl is a srong propnsiy o o hir own horizing in ahighly raional way. This las o h n o cra a larg amon of horyas qicly an cinly as possib This, in rn, las o an mphasis onprocing a larg qaniy of wor ha ns o sffr as a rsl in rms ofqaliy also ofn rsls in h s of shorcs in h procion ofhory no carflly an sysmaically raing h wor of prcssors,spning lss im han is n o carflly cra a horical pic) an

hs, oo, ngaivly affc qaliy Th nr sysm a Amrican nivrsiis, wih is mphasis on nmbr of pblicaions, xacrbas hisproblm.

So hr ar many rasons for h comparaiv lac of craiviy inAmrican social hory. In fac, Mnch has focs on h on ha happnso b of comparaiv signicanc o Amrican social horiss. As inica abov, h prssr o proc h sanar jornal aricl falls mchmor on hos who ar oing mpirical sociological rsarch han socialhory. Thr is far grar variaion in h srcr an lngh of h ypical

hory aricl an, in any cas, imporan hory wor is a las as lily oappar in boo form as i is o n is way ino sociology oals. hinMnh is ge gh bout Ame o teo bt or h wrongrason

Of cors, a y par of my hsis an Mnch rcognizs his) is haMcDonalizaion is no only spraing hrogho Amrican insiions,b i is also maing signican inroas hrogho h worl Frhrmor,h fr is lily o bring wih i a gra incras in McDonalizaion Thimplicaion is ha ropan sociologiss ar lily o los a las som ofwha Mnch rgars as hir comparaiv avanag as hir sociis, anhir sociologis, grow mor McDonaliz As ropan sociis bcommor homogniz as a rsl of h procss of McDonalizaion an manyohrs), h possibiliis of cross-friizaion among h horiss of iffrnnaions xoll by Mnch ar ily o b graly rc f Mnch isrigh abo Amrican social hory, an I am righ abo h procss ofMcDonalizaion, hn ropan social horiss ar in h arly sags ofh Amrican isas." Frhrmor, i shol b born in min ha hroos of h hory of McDonalizaion li in h wor of Max Wbr an iwas Grmany ha proc h arly paraigm for h raionalizaion

procss h bracracy. On col nvision a scnario in which Grmanyonc again as h la in h raionalizaion procss wih powrfl ffcson social hory no only in Grmany, b hrogho h rs of hworl




Munching on McDonaldiation 57

I oe of he criiqes of Mch's hesis, Jeffrey Alexaer (1994)excoriaes Mch for focsig o he aiosae a for igorig globalizaio (see Chaper 7) To Alexaer, he globalizaio process, as i ismaifes i social heory, serves o eroe he sigicace of he aio-saeas a force i molig social heory (a, for ha maer, may oher higs

While globalizaio heory is ho i worl sociology oay, I hik ieresimaes he coiig sigicace of he aio-sae. My focalieress he fasfoo resara, he crei car (see Chaper 8) a oherew meas of cosmpio" (Chaper 9) are, a i may ways cololy be, procs of he Uie Saes. For example, i Expreing America(izer, 995; see also Chaper 8 of his volme) I iscss he sprea ofcrei cars aro he worl explicily i erms of Americaizaio Creicars (like fas-foo resaras are rapily Americaizig he way mch ofhe res of he worl cosmes.

I spie of he growig iece of global processes, he aio-saecoies o be of coiig imporace i shapig social heory To akeaoher example, possrcral a posmoe social heories are heavilyomiae by Frech social heoriss (izer, 1997). I may ways, i is olyFrech sociey a he Frech iellecal commiy ha col havecreae hese heoreical perspecives (Lemer, 1 98 1 ) .

I am o sggesig ha McDoalizaio is he oly, o r eve he ceral,facor i he problems cofroig America, a icreasigly worl, socialheory However, i oes offer s a ieresig way of coecig isses of

coce o he heoreical commiy o broaer social res Oce kowfor is seel a aomobiles, America has come o be kow for is jkfoo Oce kow for he work of hikers like arsos, Mero, Mea aHomas, is America social heory esie o sffer a similar fae a comeo be kow for he heoreical eqivale of k foo? More imporaly, isMch righ Is America sociological heory leaig heorizig hroghohe wol i he same poeially isasros, irecio?

Ntes

Ths chapte s base on Mnch(ng on McDona(aon of Soca Theoy Swss Jual Slg 996 47-50

I . In patca my eay essay on McDonaaton (Re 983 Hee I sha focs onsoca theoy athe han socoogy as a whoe because that s ceay Mnchs majoconce

I scss he McDonazaton of socety an he ea that t s comng o encompassthe wo s cetany expct n my wo

3. Whe agee that aona choce heoy has an afnty wh McDonazaton I o not

thnk hat ong aona choce theoy nevtaby nvoves such atonazaton Fo exampeatona choce theosts can opeate n a hghy ceave manne Whe the mph of aonachoce heoy may ncease the ehoo of the aonazaton of theoy t s fa fom theony foce pshng theoy n ha ecton an t s no he ony heoy beng sbjece to hapocess




II

THE EXPANSION OFMcDONALDIZATION

5

McJobs: McDonaldization and ItsRelationship to the Labor Process

In rcn yars h spra of McDonaiz sysms has o h craionof an normos nmbr of jobs Unfornay h maoriy of hm can bhogh of as McDonaiz obs, or McJobs" Whi w say associahs yps of posiions wih fas-foo rsarans an in fac hr ar manysch obs in ha sing (ovr 2.5 miion pop work in ha insry inh Uni Sas in 1992 (Van Gizn 1994 McJobs hav spra

hrogho mch of h conomy wih h growing impac of McDonaizaion on work sings which ha prviosy princ raivy iraionaizaion

I is worh oining som of h basic raiis of mpoymn in h fasfoo insry in h Uni Sas sinc hos jobs srv as a mo formpoymn n ohr McDonaz sngs Van zn 1 h argnmbr of pop mpoy in fasfoo rsarans accons for ovr 40prcn of h approimay 6 miion pop mpoy in rsarans of ayps Fas-foo rsarans ry haviy on nag mpoys amos 70

prcn of hir mpoys ar 20 yars of ag or yongr For many, hfas-foo rsaran is iky o b hir rs mpoyr I is sima ha hrs job for on of vry 1 5 workrs was a McDona' s ; on of vry ighAmricans has work a McDonas a som im in his or hr if Thvas majoriy of mpoys ar par-im workrs h avrag work wk inh fasfoo insry is 29.5 hors Thr is a high ovr ra: onysighy mor han haf h mpoys rmain on h job for a yar or morMinoriis ar ovr-rprsn in hs jobs amos wo-hirs of mpoys ar womn an nary a qarr ar non-whi Ths ar ow-pai

occpaions wih many ing h minimm wag, or sighy mor As ars, hs jobs ar gray affc by changs in h minimm wag: anpwar rvision has an imporan ffc on h incom of hs workrsHowvr hr is a ra angr ha many workrs wo os hir posiions




60 The Expansion of McDonadiation

as a rsl of sc ncass spcally n conomcally margnal fasfoosarans

Alog McDonalzaon of socy s manfs a all lvls an nall ralms of socal worl work worl as play a parclarlypvoal rol n s On on an s man sorc of many of

pcrsors of McDonalzaon nng bracracs, scnc managmn assmbly lns, an so on Mor conmporanosly kns of jobs,work pocrs an organzng prncpls a av ma McDonal's sosccssfl av afc way n wc many bsnsss now organzmc of r work In fac col wll b arg a prmary roo of McDonalzaon of largr socy s wok worl On oran McDonalzaon of larg socy as n , srv ofrr raonal wok wor W s av a slf-rnfocng annrcng pocss a s spng grow an spra of McDonalz

aonT procss o McDonalzaon s lang o craon of mor an

mor McJobs T srvc sco, spcally a s lowr n s procngan normos nmbr of jobs mos of m rqrng ll or no skl l Trs no br xampl of s an monan of jobs bng proc by fasfoo nsry Howvr, nw occpaonal craon s no onlysorc of McJobs: many xan low-lvl jobs ar bng McDonalzMor srkngly, larg nmbrs of mllvl obs ar also bng skllan ransform no McJobs.

McJobs ar caracrz by v mnsons of McDonalzaon Tjobs n o nvolv a srs of smpl asks n wc mpass s onpformng a a fnly a pobl Son, m asoa wmany of asks s carflly calcla an mpass on qany ofm a ask sol ak ns o mns qaly of work from pon of vw of work. Ta s asks ar so smpl an sramlna y prov ll or no manng o workr Tr work sprcabl; mploys o an say ssnally sam ngs or aror ay af ay For many non-man cnologs ar mploy oconrol works an rc m o robo-lk acons Som cnologsar n plac, an ors ar n vlopmn, a wll la o vnalrplacmn of many of s man obos" w comprz robosFnally raonalz McJobs la o a vary of rraonal s, spcally manzaon of work T rsl s xraonarly g ovrra scrb abov an cly n mananng an aqa spply ofrplacmns

T clam s sally ma by spokspopl for McDonalz sysmsa y ar ofrng a larg nmb of nry-lvl posons a lp gvmploys basc sklls y wll n n orr o mov p occpaonal

lar wn sc sysms (an many o m o Ts s lkly o b rn nsancs n wc m-lvl jobs o wc y mov forxampl sf lar asssan managr or managr of a fas-foo rsaran ar also ronz an scrp In fac s o a s vn ols for




McJob and the Labor Pce 6 1

h posiions hl by h oiniz an scip inscos a HambgUnivsiy who ach h manags, who ach h mploys, an so onHowv, h skills acqi in McJobs a no likly o ppa on fo,hlp on o acqi, o hlp on o fncion wll in, h fa mo siablpos-insial occpaions which a highly complx an qi high lvls

of skill an caion Expinc in oiniz acions an scip inacions o no hlp mch whn occpaions qi hogh an caiviy

Af his bif inocion o Mcobs, w o a mo hoicaliss wha laionship, if any, xiss bwn h McDonalizaion ofsociy an h changing na of wha a nmb of hoiss an sachs, following h wok of Kal Max an Hay avman, havcall h labo pocss"? hs analyss aop a ciical oinaion hyn o look a h abo pocss fom h poin of viw of hings likmanagial conol ov wha woks o, chnological avancmn an

conol skilling an xploiaion. h labo pocss associa wih hMcJobs scib abov cainly has hs chaacisics an hfofalls wihin h pviw of hos associa wih his appoach

h labo pocss, a las in h sns of h m as i is s abov, wasno h cnal concn of The McDonaldization of Socie Nonhlss, aciical appoach o h labo pocss, a las as i occs in McDonalizsings is vy mch in vinc hogho McDonaldization An whilh lia on h labo pocss was no a ccial soc in ha book,som of h ky popl an cnal ias associa wih ha lia

Fick W aylo(1947)

Hny Fo( 1922

as wll as Foism an posFoism Clak 1990) scinic managmn, skilling, conol(Ewas, 1979) an so on a fon hogho McDonaldizationNonhlss, h is no mnion of the cnal g in h labo pocssaiion, Hay avman (1974 Smih, 1994) Fhmo, h ias ofKal Max (which li a h bas of avman's hinking as wll as of hlabo pocss lia in gnal, whil gnally impoan in my ownhinking, a also no mnion; h book is ovwhlmingly Wbian inchaac. hs, h bs ha can b sai is ha h a a nmb ofconcs ha a common o McDonaldization an h labo pocss

lia Howv, mo could b sai abo h laionship bwn hsphnomna. h iss h, hn, is wha os h McDonalizaion hsishav o say, xplicily o implicily, abo h labo pocss?

h majo conibion, a las ponially, lis in ialcically linking alag an boa social pocss (McDonalizaion o h way in which hlabo pocss is oganiz aing o an ins in sch a laionship is hnncy of analyss o al wih h abo pocss in isolaion fom lagsocial vlopmns An ins in xpoing sch linkags has xis inh labo pocss lia fo som im Fo xampl, i is xpss a a

gnal lvl by il (1990) an mo spcically by Sinai (990) in hiswok on h sa McDonalizaion can b sn as on sch lag-scalsocial pocss ncompassing a wi aay of clal an scal changsha is affcing (an bing affc by changs in h labo pocss




62 The Expansion of McDonadization

A h clal lvl lag mbs of popl i h Ui Sas aicasigly hogho mch of h s of h wol hav com o valMcDoaliaio i gal as wll as is famal chaacisics.McDoaliaio as wll as is vaios picipls has bcom pa of oval sysm Tha val sysm has i b asla io a sis of

picipls ha hav b xpo o aop by a aap o a wiag of social sigs. Ths picipls hav b isiioali a hscal lvl i a aay of social scs h ls glaios aphysical chaacisics of which hav b affc by hs picipls.Ths McDoaliaio is maifs a h maco lvl i boh cl asocial sc.

Wha is of ga is is h way i which hs macolvlphoma a afcig h mico lvl spcially a las fom h poiof viw of his chap h labo pocss. Howv his lagscal

vlopm s affcig a wi aay of mo mico-lvl pocsss ojs h labo pocss a all of hm a big affc i simila ways. oxampl h bhavio of csoms a fas-foo saas is big affci mch h sam way as h bhavio of hos who wok i hossaas. Ths McDoaliaio allows s o oly o lik h labopocss o lag social chags b also o s ha woks a fa fomalo i big affc by hs chags Fhmo h impac omploys a csoms is big fl hogho a sociy i which scoaf sco is goig McDoaliaio

Th cosais o h bhavio of mploys a csoms iMcDoali sysms a of boh a scal a a clal amploys a csoms hmslvs i a vaiy of McDoaliscs ha ma ha hy bhav i acco wih h icas of hosscs. o xampl h iv-hogh wiow associa wih h fasfoo saa (as wll as oh sigs sch as baks scs boh whacsoms i hi cas a mploys i hi boohs ca a cao o.Thy ca fcily xchag moy fo foo b hi posiios (i a caa a booh a h pss of oh cas i h q mak ay ki ofpsoal iacio vially mpossibl Of cos may oh kis of

bhavio a ih ma possibl o pohibi, by sch scs. Giss (1984) ms sch scs a boh ablig a cosaiig.

A a clal lvl boh mploys a csoms a sociali io ahav iali h oms a vals of wokig a livig i aMcDoali sociy. mploys a ai by maags o ows whoa likly hmslvs o hav b ai a a isiio lik McDoal'sHambg Uivsiy (Schaaf 1994) Sch isiios a as mch coc wih iclcaig oms a vals as hy a wih h achig of

basic skills Fo hi pa csoms a o qi o a HambgUivsiy b hy a a" by h mploys hmslvs by lvisio avisms a by h ow chil who a of iligss achs a focs of h McDoals way. This aiig"




Mcobs and the abor cess 6

lk ha of hos mploys who a Hambrgr Uvrsy s oro oly o achg h sklls" rqr o b a csomr a a fas-foorsara (g how o q p orr o orr foo) b also h ormsa vals of sch sgs as hy apply o csomrs (.g csomrs arxpc o spos of hr ow brs; hy ar o xpc o lgr afr

ag) As a rsl of sch formal a formal rag boh mploysa csomrs ca b rl o o o wha hy ar sppos o a wha sxpc of hm wh ll or o prsoal sprvso

Th prcg scsso of h mpac of srcr a clr s vrymch l wh ravrma's focal cocr wh corol call ha h maagm as a labor pcess conducted for the purpose ofcontl within the corportion (ravrma 1974: 267) To ravrma hacorol s xrcs a x hrogh sch mchasms as h spcalzao of work scc maagm's dictation to the worker of the

precise manner in which work is to be peormed (ravrma 1974 90)a h s of o-hma chologs. All of hs ca b s as par ofh procss of McDoalzao Scc maagm s as w hav so of h prcrsors of McDoalzao a s basc prcpls co oform ha procss. Corol hrogh o-hma chologs s o of hbasc lms of McDoalzao A h spcalzao of work frhrsraoalzao by makg work asks mor prcabl fc a calclabl Whl McDoalzao compasss hs forms of corol hghlghs ohr lms of ha corol bas o largr srcral a

clral facorsWhl ravrma was rgh o mphasz h mporac of maagmo corol McDoalzao pos o ohr facors as bg cral o hcorol of mploys (a csomrs) lgh of h crasg mporacof hs facors s lkly ha h rol play by maagm corol slss oay ha was wh ravrma wro Th corol xrcs byclr a srcr maks maagm a lss powrfl forc I mayways sch corol s mor ffcv and lss xpsv ha corolxrcs by maagrs A mploys ar lss lky o rbl agas hmprsoal corol xrcs by rv-hrogh wows a socal orms

Nhr Marx or ravrma flly acpa h rs of h k ofsrvc workr who has com o oma McDoalz sysms Whlhy hav mch commo wh hm McJobs ar o smply h sklljobs of or sral pas w sgs; hy ar jobs ha hav a vary ofw a scv characrscs Whl hos who hol McJobs arcoroll may of h ways xplor by Marx a ravrma hr havalso mrg may scv aspcs of h corol of hs workrsIsral a McDoalz jobs boh o b hghly roz rmsof wha popl o o h job. Howvr o of h hgs ha s scv

abo McDoalz jobs spcally sc so may of hm volv workha rqrs raco a commcao spcally wh cosmrs sha wha popl say o h job s also hghly roz To p hs aohrway McDoalz jobs ar ghly scrp: hy ar characrz by both




64 The xpanion of McDonaldization

rotiniz actions for xampl th way McDonal's hambrgs ar to bpt own on th grill an ipp ov 1986 412) an scriptintactions (xampls incl May I hlp yo? Wol yo lik assrt to go with yo mal?; Hav a nic ay! Scripts ar crcialbcas as inr ( 993) points ot many of th workrs in McDonal

iz systms ar intractiv srvic workrs This mans that thy not onlypoc goos an provi srvics bt thy oftn o so in intraction withcstomrs

Th scripting of intraction las to nw pths in th skilling ofworkrs Not only hav mploy actions bn skill mploys' abilityto spak an intract with cstoms is now bing limit an controllThr ar not only scipts to hanl gnal sitations bt also a rang ofsb-scripts to al with a vaity of contingncis Vrbal an intractivskills ar bing takn away from mploys an bilt into th scipts in

mch th sam way that manal skills wr takn an bilt into variostchnologis At on tim istrst in thir ability to do th right thingworkrs now n thmslvs no longr trst to ay th right thing Oncabl to crat istinctiv intractiv styls an to ajst thm to iffrntcicmstancs mploys ar now ask to follow scripts as minlssly aspossibl n ravrman's trms jst as managmnt has long concivwhat mploys ar sppos to o it now concivs what thy arsppos to say an how thy a sppos to say it an in both action anintaction mploys hav littl choic bt to xct managmnt's

mansIn hr analysis of Combin Insranc inr ( 1993) fon that thiscoma w vn fhr an soh to ransform an thrby control itsmploys slvs This is consistnt with Arli Hochschils ( 1983)iscovry that airlins soght to manag th motions of thir mploysThs nings sm in tn with th ffots of labor procss thinkrs anrsarchrs to xtn thir concs from objctiv ralitis to mploysbjctivitis What w hav vinc of h is a sris of npcntfforts to control mploys t is not simply what popl o an say on thjob that many oganizations now sk to control bt also how thy viwthmslvs an how thy fl

Howvr Combin nsranc is not a goo xampl of a McDonalizrm an inr's nings cannot b xtn to most sch sttings Thfact is that McDonaliz systms hav littl intst in how thir mainlypart-tim shorttm mploys fl abot an s thmslvs Thssystms ar mrly intrst in contoll ing thir mploys ovt bhaviorfor as long as thy work in sch a systm This point was ma in aiffrnt way in Chaptr 2 in which it was arg that Mannhim'sconcpts of slfrationalization an slf-obsrvation ar at an hav littl

rlvanc to mploys of McDonaliz systmsOn vry important bt rarly not aspct of th labor procss in th

fast-foo staant an oth McDonaliz systms is th xtnt to whichcstomrs a bing l phaps vn almost rqir to prform a nmbr




McJobs and th Labor Pcss 65

of asks wiho pay ha w fomly pfom by pai mploys Foxampl, in h mo gasolin saion h iv now os vaios hingsfo f (pmps gas, clans winows, chcks oil, vn pays hogh acompiz ci ca sysm bil no h pmp) ha w fomlyon by pai anans n hs an many oh sings, McDonaizaion

has bogh h csom into h labo pocss h csom is h labo!This has sval avanags fo mploys sch as low (vn nonxisn)labo coss, h n fo fw mploys, an lss obl wih psonnlpoblms csoms a fa lss likly o complain abo a fw scons omins of ios wok han mploys who vo a fll wok ay o schasks. cas of is avanags, as wll as bcas csoms a gowingaccsom o, an accping of, i, hink csoms a likly o bcomvn mo involv in h labo pocss

This is h mos volionay vlopmn, a las as fa as h labo

pocss is conc associa wih McDonalizaion As a sl of hisamaic chang, h analysis of h labo pocss ms b xn o whacsoms o in McDonaliz sysms Th isincion bwn csoman mploy is oing, o in posmo ms imploing," an on cannvsion mo an mo wok sings in which csoms a ask o o anincasng amon of wok." Mo amaically, i is also likly ha wwill s mo wok sns in which h a no mpoys a all! n schsings csoms, in inacion wih nonhman chnologis, will o allof h hman labo A wispa xampl s h ATM in whch csoms(an h chnoogy) o all of h wok fomly on by bank ls Mosikingly, w a bgnning o s aoma loan machins whch spnsloans as high as $10000 (Snglay, 1996) Again, csoms an chnologis o h wok an, in h pocss, many loan-oc posiions alimina Similaly, h nw aoma gasoln pmps allow (o foc)csoms o o all of h qi asks; in som cass an a cain ims(a a nigh) no mploys a all a psn.

In a sns, a ky o h sccss of McDonaliz sysms is ha hy havbn abl o spplmn h xploiaion of mploys wih h xploiaionof csoms s w fog, Max p a h ha of his socology as no

oh socoogy os h hm of xploiaion" (Wosy, 1982: 1 15 ) nMaxian hoy, h capiaiss a sn as simply paying woks lss hanh val poc by h woks, an as kping h s fo hmslvsThis ynamic conins in conmpoay sociy, b capialiss hav laha hy can ach p h lvl of xploiaion no only by xploiingwoks mo, b also by xploing a whol nw gop of popl consms In Maxian ms, csoms ca val in h asks hypfom fo McDonaliz sysms An hy a no simply pa ss hanh val hy poc, hy a pa nothing at all In his way, csoms

a xploi o an vn ga g han woks As is of hxploiaion of woks (Max, 18671967: 550) owns a nawa of hfac ha hy a xploiing csoms. knowlg of xploaon s noa pqisi o is pacc.





Whil w hav bn focsing on h xploiaion of csomrs inMcDonaliz sysms his is no o say ha mployrs hav los sigh ofh n o xploi workrs yon h sal xploiaion of bing pai lsshan h val of wha hy proc McDonal's mploys ar on nogaran ha hy will work h nmbr of hors hy ar sppos o on

a givn ay If bsinss is slow hy may b sn hom arly in orr hah mployr can conomiz on labor coss: his rcs hir akhompay As a rsl mploys on n i har o con on a givn lvl ofincom magr as i migh b ach wk. In his way an many ohrsmploys of McDonaliz sysms ar vn mor xploi han hirinsrial conrpars

This iscssion brings oghr h wo gra horis in h hisory ofsociology Wbr' s hory of raionalizaion an Marx' s hory of capialisxpansion an xploiaion aionalizaion is a procss ha srvs h

inrs of capialiss Thy psh i forwar (largly nconsciosly bcasi highns h lvl of xpoiaion of workrs allows nw agns (.gcsomrs o b xploi an brings wih i grar srpls val anhighr pros. This iscssion as a n corrciv o ravrman'sprspciv which focs on conrol an ha lil o say abo hynamics of conomic xpoiaion W can s hr how raionalizaion noonly nhancs conrol b aso highns h lvl an xpans h rach ofxploiaion.

In varios ways McDonalizaion is impos on mploys an vncsomrs. Thy ofn hav no choic b o conform vn if hy wolprfr hings o b on in ohr ways Howvr i wol b a misak olook a McDonalizaion as simpl bing impos on woks n somrs. As iscss abov h basic ias associa wih McDonalizaion ar par of h val sysm: many workrs an csomrs havinaliz hm an conform o hm of hir own accor.

Frhrmor hrogh hir acions boh workrs an csomrs can bsn as acivly manfacring" or sbcifying" McDonaizaion(rawoy 1979; Knighs 1990. y accing o h consrains plac onhm by craing nw an iiosyncraic ways of McDonalizing hir

acions an inracions an by xning McDonalizaion o ohr aspcsof hir livs workrs an csomrs can b sn as acivly involv in hmanfacr h social consrcion of McDonalizaion (rgr anLckmann 1967 This is anohr aspc of h way in which McDonalizaion is no simply impos on pop. Workrs an csomrs ofn bohby ino McDonaizaion an ar acivly involv in is craion

Th mphasis on h McDonalizaion of wok (lik ha on skillingns o mphasiz only on si of h ialcic bwn srcral changsspcially hos impos by managmn an h signicanc of h

rsponss of mploys which ar consisnly ownplay as Linraks gra pains o poin o h mploys of McDonaliz sysms onxhibi a consirabl amon of inpnnc prhaps vn craiviy onh job Linr also poins o ha in o rsh o conmn w ms no




McJobs and the bor Process 67

ignor th avantags to both mploys an cstomrs of th rotinization,vn th scripting, of work.

Althogh it ha prcrsors in th bracracy, th assmbly lin anscintic managmnt, an so on, McDonalization ha its proximat sorcin th fastfoo rstarant. Contining changs in th way sch rstarants

oprat ar srving to both rinforc an altr th natr of th largr procssof McDonalization Not only os this largr procss affct mploys ancstomrs in th fast-foo rstarant, bt that typ of bsinss was an is amajor sorc of McDonalization Thr is a tr ialctic hr btwn thfastfoo rstarant an McDonalization

Thr is also a ialctic btwn living ons lif in a McDonalizsocity an working in a McDonaliz job Ths ar mtally rinforcingan th nt rslt is that if most of ons if is spnt in on McDonalizsystm or anothr, thn on is lss likly o fl issatis with ithr on s

lif or ons job This hlps to accont for obin Linrs 1993) ningthat McDonals workrs o not vinc a high lvl of issatisfaction withthir work his, prhaps, is on of th most istrbing implications of thMcDonalization thsis. If most of ons lif is spnt in McDonalizsystms, thn thr is littl or no basis for rbllion against on s McDonaliz job sinc on lacks a stanar agains which to compar, an to jg,sch a job Mor gnrally, thr is littl or no basis for rblling against thsystm or for sking ot altativ, nonMcDonaliz systmsMcDonalization thn bcoms th kin of iron cag scrib by Wbr

from which thr is no scap an, wors, not vn any intrst inscaping.his also nrmins on of ravrmans (an Marxs fnamntal

assmptions that whn all is sai an on workrs rmain at os with thkin of work that is bing impos on thm an ar a thrat to thos who arimposing th work. To ravrman (an Marx, thr is a crativ cor(Marxs spcis bing, for xampl lying jst blow th srfac that is vrray to protst or rbl against, th raionaliz an xploitativ charactrof work. Howvr, can that crativ cor srviv intact, or vn at all, in thfac of growing p in a McDonaliz worl, bing bombar by miamssags from McDonaliz systms an bing socializ by an cat in McDonaliz schools?

ravrman arg that th kins of trns iscss abov an in hiswork ar occrring not only among lowr layrs in th occpationalhirarchy, bt also in th mil layrs McDonalization is somthing thatthos at th top of any hirarchy sk o avoi for thmslvs, bt ar willingan agr to impos on thos who rank blow thm in th systm. Initially,it is th lowst lvl mploys who hav thir work McDonaliz, bt, asravrman arg, it vntally crps into thos mil layrs.

Whil gilty of xploiting an controling mploys, franchis opratorsar, in t, controll an xploit by franchis companis Many franchis oprators hav on wll, vn bcoming mlti-millionairs controlling prhaps hnrs of franchiss (Tannnbam, 1996) bt many othrs




68 The Expanion of McDonaldization

hav saggr or fail as a rsl of high sar-p coss an conining fso h franchis companis. (Th incmn o h franchisor o opn asmany ols as possibl hrans h proabiliy an vn h coninxisnc of xan franchis ownrs: Gibson 996b. Th opraors akmch of h nancial risk whil h franchis companis si back an (ofn

rak in h pros. In aiion h franchis companis frqnly havail rls rglaions an vn inspcors ha hy s o conrol hopraors

Whil no class wihin sociy is immn o McDonalizaion h lowrclasss ar h mos afc Thy ar h ons who ar mos likly o go oMcDonaliz schools liv in inxpnsiv mass-proc rac hoss anwork in McDonaliz jobs Thos in h ppr classs hav mch mor ofa chanc of sning hir chilrn o nonMcDonaliz schools living incsom-bil homs an working in occpaions in which hy impos

McDonalizaion on ohrs whil avoiing i o a larg gr hmslvs.Also rla o h social class iss (s Chapr 13 is h fac ha hMcDonalizaion of a signican porion of h labor forc os no manha all or vn mos of h labor forc is nrgoing his procss In fach McDonalizaion of som of h labor forc is occrring a h sam imha anohr larg sgmn is moving in a posinsrial ha is mor highlyskill ircion (Hag an owrs 1992 ing cra in his scor ofsociy ar rlaivly high-sas wll-pai occpaions rqiring high lvlsof caion an raining. In h main hs ar far from McJobs an lack

mos or all of h imnsions iscss a h bginning of his chaprTh growh of sch posinsrial occpaions parallls h conc in hlabor procss lirar wih xibl scializaion occrring si by siwih h skilling of many ohr jobs. This poins o a bifrcaion in hclass sysm In spi of apparancs hr is no conraicion hr;McDonalizaion an pos-insrializaion n o occr in iffrn scorsof h labor mark Howvr h spra of McJobs las s o b biosof h ia ha w hav mov ino a nw pos-insrial ra an hav lfbhin h kin of skill jobs w associa wih insrial sociy

Finally i may wll b ha h focs on h labor procss in fas-foorsarans an lswhr ignors wha labor procss horiss call h fllcirci of capial" (Knighs an Willmo 1990 13 Alhogh i os norla o McDonaldization b o my work on cri cars (s Chapr 8also izr 995 i shol b poin o ha h focs in conmporarycapialism a las in h Uni Sas sms o hav shi from hvalorizaion an conrol procsss in from procion as a whol oconsmpion. Th ssnc of mo capialism a las as i is pracic inh cor naions may no b so mch maximizing h xploiaion ofworkrs as h maximizaion of consmpion Wha h cri car (an

ohr mo innovaions in cri inicas is ha capialism can no longrsrviv in is prsn form by convincing consmrs o spn all of hirrsorcs a han. Wha i ms o is o com p wih a consan s ofinnovaions sign o g consmrs o spn no only vryhing a han




McJob and the bor Pce 69

b also an incasingly lag popoion o mony y av no ya

In a llng an saling vsal o wa w sally man by m, ci ca companis o os wo pay i bills in ll ac mon asabas." Fom wap pspciv o ci ca insy, a

aba is so signa bcas /s os no allow nsy o a lag pos iv om caging sios ins as o os wovolv i accons (abo wo-is o all ss) T mssag, claly,is a i is o y o go ino b so a ci ca ms can axaoinay pos

Mo gnally, mssag is a i w wan capialis sysm oconin o posp, w ms conin o incas o lvl o nbnssno only o ci ca companis, b also o banks an oagncis a ol o mogags, om qiy loans, ca loans, an so on

anking s o b pimaily abo saving; pos w a om inc in a pai o savs an a banks a by lning mony o os Howv, in cn yas banks av la a i isa mo poabl o b in loan bsinss. Massiv os av bnma o g s o boow mony in vaios ways, wil incmns o savav all b isappa Fo xampl, sval billion pics o mail wsn o Amican oms in 995 (abo 25 p osol) ging anincing (wi low inocoy as, os) popl o sign p o yano ci ca How many pics o mail aiv ging, l alon

incng, os sam popl o sav a i local bank? T answ maywll b zo Tis ispaiy in mailings lls s w poiis ooay's banks li

Capalism as on a i is impaiv o popl o consm fbyon i cas a an In a sns, is a nw law o capialisaccmlaion opaing Wil no gnoing inaional xpansion o maks, capass av scov a nw way o incas maks a om. y av on is, as posmoiss sggs, byliminaing consains an bonais o im (Havy, 989) Capialism can only gow so a by gng s o spn vying w av, so i

as on a way og c cas an o yps o aily availablloans o g s o spn mony w av no y vn Capalsgow is pnn on nng o v nw an mo n ways oging s o spn mony a is no o b a nil a an aino T goal, o s a pas om an ali pio o capialism,is o g all o s o ow o sols o company so."

Wil Amican capialis will no igno oay's inaional maks (an will vn xpo mo ci insmns o m), os maksav mo vagais an mak a om T conomic cisis in

Mxico in mi- 990s poin, onc again, o s angs Capialissoay appa o b ivn mo by innsiying mak a om in mso m an y a in making maks o i pocs mogogapcally (spaially) xnsiv




70 The Expansion of McDonaldiation

I col be arge, as many have, ha he focs in moe capialism hasshife from he conrol an exploiaion of procion o he conrol anexploiaion of consmpion. Whie ha may wel be re, he fac is hacapialiss o no, an will no, ignore he ream of procion AsMcDonaldiation shows, he nare of work is changing an capiaiss are

flly involve in ning new ways of conroling an exploiing workers.Frher, hey have iscovere ha hey can even eplace pai employees noonly wih machines, emporay workes an so on, b aso wih csomerswho are seemingly gla o he work for nohing Here, clearly, is a new gifo he capialis Srpls vae is now no only o be erive from he laborime of he empoyee, b also from he leisre ime of he csomer.McDonaliaion is helping o open a whole new worl of exploiaion angrowh o he conemporary capialis

Ntes

Th chape cobne a pape McJob puhe n Rich Fee an Gay Waz (e)Caee Tanstns n Tubuent mes Geenboo NC ERICCASS ublicaion 1996 anhe Inve lenay Ae Ineaona abou oce Confeence Bacpool EnglanAp 1995.

I . Alhough a uy by Kaz an Kuege 199) ncae an epoyen nceaseaccopanying a e in he iniu wage

A we will ee below ohe kin of highau hghpaying ponuia occupaionae alo gowng

3. Thee ae of coue any ohe faco nvove in uove4. Fo exaple Max ea le a he bae of y ene of an negae ocological

paaig (ize, 1

5. Ahough he ea of a few Maxi o eceve oe aenon6. Much lie Mannhei elfobevaon




6

McDonaldization:The New "Ameican Menace

McDoal' s, fas-foo saas a h pocss of McDoalizaio aa lagly, if o xclsivly, Amica phoma, a las i ms of hioigi. Th xpo of hs ila phoma ca hfo b viwas a xampl of Amicaizaio his way, w ca lik h pocss of

McDoalizaio o ha of AmicaizaioJ

Whil sch a likag xiss, iis by o mas a simpl o McDoalizaio os hav vaios oAmica oos, mos oably h Gma bacacy aalys so famoslyby Max Wb I aiio, may cls hogho h wol hav hiow vaiis of wha is ow call fas foo" Ths, w a o iscssiga xclsivly Amica phomo aiio o McDoalizaio,Amicaizaio ivolvs may oh higs (h xpo of movis, poplamsic, ci cas, a so o) Complicaig mas is h iss of which ofh wo is h boa a h mo impoa pocss. McDoalizaio isb o of may pocsss maaig fom h Ui Sas ha ca bsbsm h haig of Amicaizaio, y i oh waysMcDoalizaio may b s as boa a mo impoa sic i hasscc, a las o som g, i isgagig islf fom is Amicaoos (fo xampl may aios ow hav iigos clos ofMcDoal's) a bcomig a iial wolwi pocss opaigply of Amicaizaio I spi of hs complxiis, one way oflookg a McDoalizaio is as a fom of Amicaizaio a ha is hway i will b appoach i his chap.

My spcic objciv h is o xami McDoalizaio, is spa, a

is iaioaliis fom h poi of viw of Eop's logig lov (bspcially) ha laioship wih h Ui Sas As icha Kisl(1993 3 has cly p i, Amica appa [o h ch, aEopas i gal] as boh a mol a a mac" Tig his aoslighly, h hm of his chap migh b scib as h menace pos oEop by Amica's McDoals mode!. Th ha" has of ak hfom, spcially (b o xclsivly) i Fac, of fa a loahig ofAmicaizaio Accoig o Ewa McCay (1964 1 , Amicaizaio is a cachall fo ayhig of which h spak moally a

moioally isappovs."Th a a mb of books alig wih h Amica ic i

Eop, iclig America the Menace (Dhaml, 1 93 1 The AmericanInvasion (Williams, 1 962 The Americanization of Eupe (McCay,




72 The xansion of McDonaldiation

96) The Rebirth of the West The Americaniation of the DemocticWorld (Dignan an Gann 992) Seducing the French The Dilemma ofAmericaniation (Kisl 993) an th bst-nown of sch wors TheAmerican Challenge (Srvan-Schribr 968). Many of ths wr writtnring a prio whn th Unit Stats was the ominant conomic powr in

th worl rop was comparativly wa an fragmnt an a titanicstrggl for political sprmacy was nrway btwn commnism ancapitalism Of cors non of ths alitis xist any longr th UnitStats facs srios comptition in th worl conomy rop is strongran mor ni an commnism has isappar as a srios comptitorto capitalism. In ths an othr ways thr is a nw worl orr in whichto arss th natr of th Amrican mnac" to rop

In th ol ays th Amrican mnac was largly sn in bsinssconomic an instrial trms This is rct in th now qit amsing

opning lin of Srvan-Schribr's (968 3) American Challenge Fiftnyars from now it is qit possibl that th worls thir gratst instrialpowr jst aftr th Unit Stats an ssia will not b rop btAmerican indust in uroe Th icrosnss of that vision in light ofcrrnt instrial an conomic ralitis in th Unit Stats rop anspcially ssia shol giv pas to all of thos (incling this athorwith an intrst in social forcasting

Whil no instrial pygmy toay th Unit Stats to say nothing ofssia os not rprsnt a srios thrat to ropan instry an bsinss

practics Thr is nobtly far mor conc in rop abot aninvasion of Japans instry an bsinss practics (what has bn trmToyotaiaion" or Jaaniaion" gr an Smh 99 han h anAmrican incrsion into rop (Womac t a 990) t os thcomparativ wanss of Amrican instry man that th Amricanmnac to rop (an lswhr has n? It is my thsis that rathr thanning th Amrican mnac has fom th vantag point of rop tana nw mor insiios an in many ways mor angros form athr thanbing l by or bsinss xcivs this phas of th invasion is bingsparha by sch lars" of Amrican socity as Micy Mos

Maonna an hr most rcnt MTV vio th annoncrs on CNN anmost importantly from my point of viw clowns li onal McDonal. (Itsays mch abot th clin of Amricas traitional instrial bas thatrop has mor to far from clowns hambrgrs an th tchniqsinvolv in maing an slling thm than it os from th Amrican stlan atomobil instris. This is not mrly an invasion of th boarrooms an factoris of ropan bsinsss; it is an invasion into vrynoo an cranny of ropan poplar cltr it is an incrsion into th ayto-ay th most mnan activitis of mo ropans Ths Francis

Williams (962 npi in The American Inasion, cam far closr to hittingth mar than i th bttr-nown Srvan-Schribr by sborinating thinstrial challng pos by Amrica to th cltral challngs manatingfrom it Th Amrican invasion is going on all ovr th worl Amrican




"The New American Menace 73

ideas, American mehods American cusoms, American habis of eaing,drinking and dressing, American amusemens, American social paes,American capial"

Semming, as hey do, from he early 1960s, Williams's conces showha hand-wringing over an invasion by American popular culure is far from

new uropeans have been worried abou his for many decades, perhapseven before hey grew conceed abou he American indusrial and economic invasion This conce has been especially srong among he French,perhaps because, as Kuisel (1993: 127 poins ou, he Unied Saes andFrance are he only wo Wese naions ha harbor universal preensions.For example, as early as he early 1 930s Georges Duhamel ( 1 93 1 2 15wroe, American civilizaion . . is already misress of he world . hereare on our coninen . . large regions ha he spiri of old urope hasdesered The American spiri colonizes [or ains'] lile by lile such a

province, such a ciy, such a house and such a soul" is his Americancolonizaion, his fear of a loss of radiional uropean spiri; of a aining"of he uropean soul," ha, in ligh of he massive spread of McDonaldizaion, is even more of an issue oday in France (and elsewhere han i wasin Duhamels ime

here was an imporan precursor o oday' s conce abou McDonaldizaion in he 1940s when a furor arose in France over he markeing of CocaCola. French communiss (and ohers grew concerned abou wha wasermed he coca-colonizaion" of France Here was a produc inimaelyassociaed wih American culure ha was o be markeed in France. Irepresened he imporaion of he American love of sof drinks and i poseda hrea, a leas in he eyes of some in France, o a way of life winedrinking and he caf life associaed wih i ha was he essence of Frenchculure. Proess were mouned, bu in spie of hem Coca-Cola evenuallycame o France in 1949. The naion, is culure and is love of wine and cafsseem o have survived he onslaugh Oher uropean socieies haveembraced Coca-Cola and many oher American expors far more eagerly,and o a greaer degree, han France and hey oo, have survived

More recenly, here was he furor over anoher very American phenom

enon uro Disney Here was anoher elemen of Americanizaion ha wasperceived by he French, and ohers, as a profound ea One Frenchsocialis poliician linked uro Disney direcly o he hrea of conce inhis chaper ha posed by fas-food resaurans He wed ha uroDisney would bombard France wih uprooed creaions ha are o culurewha fas food is o gasronomy" (iding, 1 992 A 13 Disney, like fas food,is seen as being impored from he Unied Saes and hreaening o degradeFrench culure o anoher criic, i represened he rs sep oward hehomogenizaion of urope A govemen miniser worried ha i migh be

he rs indicaion of an American akeover of he uropean leisure indusrySill anoher criic described uro Disney as a culural Cheobyl" (Kraf,1994 H. Such an image brough o mind a French culure decimaed by anexplosion of Disney producs Now, wih a bi of hindsigh, we can see ha




74 The Expansion of McDonaldization

Franc has srvivd h Disny invasion s as i did cocacoonizaion Infac, rsisanc was so srong ha h qsion was, a as for a im,whhr Disny cod srviv in Franc Whi ro Disny has srvivd(b no wiho a massiv baio and is vn prospring, Frnch crhas prsisd, and wi prsis

Having srvivd Coca-Coa and Disny, h sson of hisory sms o bha Frnch (and mor gnray ropan cr and sociy ar faroghr and mor rsiin han hy ar somims givn crdi for As onAmrican socioogis has poind o, Amrica' s cra xpors do no ndo rpac xan crs, b coxis wih hm, bcoming in a snsvryon' s scond cr (Giin, in Kis, 1 993 230) If ha is h cas,hn why his chapr? Why ask radrs, spciay hos in rop, o bconcd abo McDonadizaion, whn fars abo cocacoonizaion and,dar w say i, Disnyandizaion, among ohrs, hav provn o hav bn

way o of proporion?Th rason, I hink, is ha McDonadizaion, as a form of Amricanizaion does rprsn somhing niq and mor hraning han a of isprdcssors ha wr sn as impriing rop McDonadizaion doshav a as h ponia o b mor han a scond cr; o b a kind ofcra Choby On of h hings ha maks McDonadizaion niq isha i brings oghr in on packag a hra o boh ropan bsinss andcra pracics Prvios manifsaions of h Amrican mnac havndd o rprsn on or h ohr, b no boh Whi h invasion of, forxamp, Harvard sinss Schoo chniqs and a corporaion ik DPonrprsnd a hra o ropan ways of doing bsinss, hy had raivyi impac on ropan cr in gnra In conras, h coming ofMT, Coca-Coa and Disny hran o homogniz cr, b hy dono gray affc ropan bsinss pracics McDonadizaion invovsboth a rvoionary s of bsinss pracics and a rvoion in onabsoy ky mn of cr h way in which pop a

Taking h iss of bsinss pracics rs, idnr ( 1 993 47) args haMcDonads is ofn rprsnd as mbmaic of Amrican capiaisknowhow In many naions i is sn as a mod of capiais fcincy

ady, on of h hings ha McDonad's sands for is rnning a farng mpir wih a minima cnra organizaion In conras, Frnchorganizaions, for xamp, ar ofn rn by hg and cmbrsom bracracis (Crozir, 964) Adding gray o h hra posd by McDonads inhis ram is h fac ha is princips and bsinss pracics can b, and inmany cass arady hav bn, xndd byond rsarans o many ohryps of bsinss

Wihin h ram of cr, Kis ndrscors h cnraiy of aingand h hra o is indignos forms posd by McDonadizaion how

cod h Frnch accp Amrican conomic aid and gidanc; borrowAmrican chnoogy and conomic pracic; by Amrican prodcs;imia Amrican socia poicy; vn drss, spak, and pehaps wost ofall) eat ik Amricans and y no os hir Frnchnss? ( 1 993 3 iaics




"The Ne merican Menace 75

a). To isa, aig og mas wih may coss, of ivovighigh-qaiy igis a sophisica cips, is ca o Fchc Th Amicaizaio of aig, as xmpi by h fas-foosaa, bigs wih i qick mas sig basic igis a simpcips Js as i h cas of ogaizaioa phiosophy, h is a ic

aihsis bw h Amica a h aiioa Fch way of aigA h iss of aig is js o pa, abi a impoa o, of h agha pos by Amica c o Fch c

I is o js h spcics of h McDoa' s appoach ha a s as sohaig Th is h mo ga fac ha wha McDoa's sks, aas impiciy, is o saaiz h way pop wok a a (a as i isos) hogho h wo Wiig fom h vaag poi of Gaiai i h ay 960s, Wiiams ( 962 46) go o h ha of hma by ikig saaizaio a Amicaizaio:

Wha Amercan experience sggests, however, is that if the pressres owarsanarizaon sanarzation of procon, stanarization of consmption,sanarizaon of exective an aministraive practices are permite to ganoo grea a hol on a society then t is exactly sch an intrson into intellectalan emotional lfe that is to be feare Yo come to a stage where if yo wan ahat a competey nfettere eployment of the resorces of moe civlizationcan offer in he satisfacon of material appetites yo mst be prepare to pay theprice

Th pic of McDoaizaio is a isio io, a saaizaio of, hivs of pop hogho Eop, a mch of h s of h wo

f Eop was h fis of McDoaizaio, i ms b wiig oaccp is coss , fw Eopas sm wi ig o pay h pic, if hy acoscios of h pic o b pai Fo xamp, Kis ( 993) ags ha hFch wa a h bs of Amicaizaio wiho a h coss I ishighy iky ha ay aio ca hav h fis of McDoaizaiowiho payig a as som of h aa coss.

To p his i h ms of h McDoaizaio hsis, Eop a hs of h wo a movig owa bsiss a ca wos omiaby h picips of fcicy, picabiiy, cacabiiy, a coo

hogh h sbsiio of o-hma fo hma choogy. ohwos, w a movig owa a wo i which bsiss a c i ogio wi b iisigishab fom h bsiss a c of vyoh

Sva cas ago, Wiiams ag ha wha Eopas ha o fawas a oss of aioa psoaiy" a ha is f mo oay sic i ispcisy wha McDoaizaio ofs, o has, pig o ospspciv Wiiams ( 962 2) gos o:

he impac of American ieas, an sti more of American ways of ife, s now solarge, he rve of Amerca so grea that to as how mch of what is specicayEnglish in or civilzaton will remain in a ecae or two f the tren connes sy no means absr . . the anger o swaowing wholesale Amercan ieas,American mehos, an American vales is [that in the process we may imch that gves o English fe its color an zest an characer.





The challenge o nglan an he res of rope hen an even more sooay is how o borrow an aap wha is sefl abo McDonaizaionwiho being swampe by i; wiho osing naional ieniies

McDonalizaion aso poses he hrea of he oss of iniviaiy Ofcorse his is aso a anger in he Unie Saes b or main focs here is

on rope. As Dhamel ( 93 48) p i America seems bon o lea heres of hmaniy along he pah of he wors experimens. Toay Americaaffors s a measre of how complee he effacemen of he inivial can become" Or in Francis Wilams' s ( 962 2 wors an allAmerican worl wo be he las sa srrener o conformiy

There are wo reasons why McDonalizaion is in an npreceeneposiion o case sch a oss of naional ieniy an inivialiy; sch aehmanize worl Firs as poine o earier nlike many of ispreecessors i has an impac on boh he bsiness wor an he arger

clre Secon i represens a se of principes ha in boh he bsiness anclral worl can be compleey isengage from heir original sorce inMcDonals an more broaly American sociey. This may be par of abroaer process since Kise ( 993 4) arges ha Americanizaion . hasbecome increasingly isconnece from America" As a isembee se ofprincipes (Giens 990 McDonaizaion can be applie o any bsinessor clral seing. Once maerialize in inigenos forms i becomesifcl o ienify hese principes as originaing in McDonals or in heUnie Saes As a resl i becomes more ifcl o oppose McDonalizaion e alone o mon ani-American senimen agains is variosmanifesaions In conras Amercan expors ike Coca-Cola an roDisney are merey rocs ha rean heir Amercan ieniy even whenhey are proce or exis in rope. While he McDonal's franchise heig Mac an so on also have his characer McDonalizaion as a process isable o escape is specic maerial manifesaions an invae any inigenoseniy. Of corse i oes no o his on is own. nrepreners who seepros o be gaine hrogh McDonaizaion are eager o appy isprinciples o more an more seings

Take he example of a recen ssian chain calle sskoye isro

(Specer 995 Hocksaer 995 Moele afer McDona' s (which hasbeen enormosy sccessfl in Moscow wih more csomers in he 990shan oriss who visi he ciys major oris aracions his new chainplans o have 200 oes in Moscow by 997 Insea of hambrgers anfrench fries sskoye isro sels raiional ssian foo ike pirogi (meaan vegeable pies bini (hin pancakes an Cossack aprico cr ar aswell as voka. Tha his is a par of he process of McDonalizaion ismae cear by an execive associae wih he new chain:

Evry ay n Rssa w ar ryng to aap o h Wstrn xprnc Wstrnvng sanars Wsrn coths vrythng. An a Wstrn t as wl. . . .Now w n o cra fas foo hr ha ts o fstyl an traons . . . . Ws McDonal's an or brohr . . W hav a lo o la from thm.(ocstar, 995 A 3)




The New American Menace 77

As a s of ismb principls, McDonalizaion is capabl ofovrcoming on of h ssnial problms of ransplaning sch ias oohr sociis. As Williams ( 1962: 1 47) p i, Too facil a ransplanaioncan proc, a h bs, no mor han an infrior vrsion of h original. . .Wha ofn sriks on is no h liknss o Amrica b h xn o which

h slicknss an fcincy, h vigor an xbranc of h original havbn los in h ransfr" Howvr, wha is sriking is no only how similarMcDonal's opraions ar aron h worl, b also how inignoscons in many naions (lik Rsskoy isro) no only masr p o, bsomims osrip, hir Amrican sorc McDonalizaion has solv hransplanaion problm!

Rcnly, Talbo ( 1996 s also Wars, 1996; McKay, 1996) haschallng his viw, mphasizing h ia ha local racions o McDonalizaion fosr hrogniy rahr han homogniy Thr ar clarly sch

ocal racions an hy o somims fosr hrogniy Howvr, hfac ha hos in spcic scors of sociy, an in many conris aronh worl, rac, somims vocifrosly an violnly o i, nrscors hpowr of McDonalizaion Popl ar racing o h srngh of haprocss, an h angrs i poss o hir way of lif hy ar bing plyac; hir livs ar likly o b McDonaliz o som gr Evn hconr-racions o McDonalizaion spak o is powr an imporanc

abo aso maks h poin ha McDonal's in Rssia opras vryiffrny han h McDonalizaion hsis wol sggs Par of his is a

rsl of h fac ha McDonal's, a las in rcn yars, alwaysadapts

oh oca nvironmn n aiion, w ar sill in h arly sags of hisincrsion ino Rssia an assming ha hr is no r o commnism,McDona's in Rssia is likly o grow mor lik h mol. I will alwaysiffr in som ways (now i offrs Rssian pirozhokpoao, mshroom anchs pis McKay, 1996) b ak h aapaions ma in Rssia, hvopmn of inignos Rssian fasoo rsarans ik Rsskoyisro, as wll as simiar vlopmns hrogho h worl, as vincfor no agains, h McDonaliaion hsis

n aiion o h spcic hras iscss hrogho his chapr (g.

homognizaion, loss of inivialiy, McDonalizaion also promiss obring o Erop an h rs of h wor all o h irraionaliis i hasalray brogh o h Uni Sas. Th mos imporan of hs is hhmanizaion associa wih working in, an aling wih, McDonaliz sings

Wriing for a Eropan ainc, Srvan-Schribr ( 1968 2) arg is im for s o ak sock an fac h har rh . . f w ar o b masrof or fa, w will n a r awakning." Tha r awakning provno o b, as Srvan-Schribr hogh, h pr-minnc of Amrican

insry in Erop, b i may b a McDonal's, or on of is clons, onvry major sr cor hrogho Erop Unfornaly, if on wais forha o occr, i will b oo la o sm h i of McDonalizaion oparaphras Max Wbr, by ha im all of s wi b wll nsconc in h





iro cag of McDoalizaio wih h rsl ha o smmr's bloomwill li aha of s b a polar igh of icy arkss a harss

Whil hav focs o rop i his chapr h hra of McDoalizaio is craily o rsric o ha coi for xampl ssia whichof cors is also par of Asia Tak h cas of h opig of a w

McDoal' s i Jrsalm o of 1 4 crrly i sral (Lacasr 1995) Akoshr ispcor of Jrsalm's rsaras ha h followig o say of haopig:

Ths les o nk oeries mes ecence n corrpon . . . When Jew pe sol es n mpe nml esoys hs sol n he ecomes ngle mn n evi nim . . This cses people o eve he homeln nmxe miges. Is wose hn ile. McDonls is conmning of Isen of he Jewish people. (Lncse, 995: A 4)

Ls w ismiss his as h viw of a xrmis ak h followig comm

by h Prsi of sral afr hr srali agrs wr kill followig asamp a a rock cocr

The Ise people e nfece wh Amecnzion. We ms no e concenefo cle only s cle nesn wh is seli cle Isel elgon.We must be w of McDonld's; we ms e wy of Mchel Jckson we mse wy of Monn (Lncse 995 A4)

A srali profssor rcogiz h hra pos by McDoal's a ohrAmrica isiios o h isiciv characr of srali sociy:

Resens n vsos hve fon enew n hs mosphee fo mienni nnow, moe hn n ny ecen me his egcy fces gve he. . . Wh heimmnen openng n miown erslem of meg-sinesses sch s ToweRecos n B ocse Veo he pesevon of he ciy' s nie sgnicncees on new gency. (Lncse, 995 A4)

Th srali cas shows ha h spra of McDoalizaio a fars aboi ar far from rsric o rop rahr ha o sch a ark ol m cocl wih hr mor opimisic pois.

Firs o a mor pro-Amrica o Fracis Williams ( 1962: 12) arg

ha h bs of Amrica . is o for xpor . wha oo of movsacross h worl i h wak of Amrica moy a Amrica kowhow iswha is mos brash a sprcial No oo may yars ago Japasxpors wr syoymos wih k b oay Japa is kow for h highqaliy of is xpors. Prhaps his is aohr way ha Amrica ca followh Japas mol a cocra i h fr o xporig h bs ofAmrica a o s h saly cay ha is McDoal's ramarkHowvr whil highqaliy Amricaizaio is o b prfrr o a lowqaliy vrsio i is sill Amricaizaio.

Sco also followig Williams 1962: 146) is probably r hacompl Amricaizaio of ay cory ohr ha Amrica islf isimpossibl. Mor rcly Kisl ( 1993 233) cocl Amricaizaio ihr oblira Frch ipc or smohr Frch




The New American Menace 79

intity" An vn mor rcntly, McKay 1996 fon that ssia isbacing away, at last to som gr, from Amricanization an rtrningto ssian goos an poplar cltr On can go frthr an say that notonly is th complt McDonalization of Erop (an lswhr) impossibl bt vn th Unit Stats can nvr b compltly McDonaliz

(althogh it is in angr of coming awflly clos) Th iss is how mchMcDonalization Eropan bsinss an cltr can tolrat withot losingthir istinctiv charactristics

Thir thr is hop in th istast for stanarization an homognizationin Franc, Grat Britain, th Nthrlans an lswhr Th cas foroptimism is that thos with a strong isli for stanarization, as wll asothr imnsions of McDonalization, will stan p, at last in part, to itsonslaght

McDonalization is a powrfl, prhaps vn an inxorabl forc, bt it is

not too lat to prvnt it from ovrwhlming vry fact of Eropansocity, as wll othr parts of th worl t probably cannot an shol notb compltly rpll, bt it can b contain Howvr, to rtain poctsof socity fr from McDonalization, larg nmbrs of popl mst rstcom to rcogniz that it rprsnts a profon thrat Bathing itslf inbright colors an a caivalli atmosphr, slling salty cany, an sing aclown as its rprsntativ, McDonal's sms to b anything bt anAmrican mnac Bt lit p th circs tnt, wip off th sgar an salt anstrip o th clown sit an what yo will n st bnath th srfac is thcol sltal framwor n for constrction of th iron cag ofrationalization

Ntes

Ths chapte was the ass of the Bugezaal Lectue pesente at the nvtaton of the Mayoof Rottea the Netheans on Octoe 1 993 It was pushe n paphet fo y thecty of Rottea.

n Russa natonalsts have aele ths ncuson "Sncezaton to eect thepopuaty of the Aecan cany a McKay 1 996)

Much of th s analyss apples as well to an y othe pats of the wol3. As s y usual patte I w not well on the postve the "oe se of

McDonalzaton.

4 Aong the cassca socoogsts Geog Se 99 7) was concee wth thegowng Aecans of hs ay. To h Aecans stoo fo the "enoous ese fohappness of oe an an, oe negatvey fo "oe covetousness Whe we wlepoy oe poxate souces fo ths scusson t s nteestng to note that Selantcpate the ssue of Aecanzaton.

5 Of couse, thee has een a coesponng se of othe nustes ost notaly thoseassocate wth copute technology.

6. See Chapte fo a scusson of a sla pont ae y Rcha Mnch aout thetantng of Euopean socal theoy y the Aecan oel





7 Althoh Frnce oes not seem to hve been s sccessl in resisin McDonlizions represente by the prolierion o stoo resturnts n crossnteries moele terthem n nce

Disney n McDonl's hve eceny nnonce plns for seres o oint unertkins

Althoh in the cse of ro Dsney my be possible to tl in erms o Disneyz

tion or McDsneyiztion (see Chper 1 0)




7

Globalization, McDonaldization andAmericanization

Globalizaion has mrg as a cnral concrn in sociology an ohr socialscincs in h las fw yars Whil a focs on h glob an global isssis wcom, many globaizaion horiss hav bn prmar in hirrjcion of ohr sbsaniv focss an of alaiv horica orin

aions This is apparn no only in my work on fas-foo rsarans an hMcDonalizaion procss, b also in my mor rcn work on cri carsan h procss of Amricanizaion. Th objciv in his chapr is o rxamin som of h basic ns of globaizaion hory no only in ligh ofhis work, b also as i rlas o h nw mans of consmpion" (sChapr 9) manaing, in arg par, from h Uni Sas

Whil hr ar signican irncs among globaizaion horiss, mosif no all wol accp obrson's ( 1992 6 1 64) avocacy of h ia hasocial sciniss aop a spcicaly globa poin of viw," an ra h

globa coniion as sch." lswhr, obrson (1990: 8) alks of h syof h worl as a whol" Mor spcicaly, obrson (1992: 60) args,hr is a gnral aonomy an logic o h globaizaion procss, whichopras in relatie inpnnc of sricly social an ohr convnionallysi socioclral procsss" Similarly, Fahrson ( 990: 1 ) iscsssh inrs in procsss ha gain som aonomy on a global lvl "

irally all globaizaion horiss, an vn many of hos opraingwih ohr horical orinaions, ar abl o accp sch gnraizaions.Howvr, i is a iffrn mar whn on gs ino h spcics of hs

approachs Thy ar opn o srios ba an isagrmn no only fromosirs, b also from wihin globalizaion hory islf (for xampl,obrson's criiqs of Wallrsins worl-sysms vrsion of globalizaion hory

Wha is of inrs o s hr is no so mch h nar of gobalizaionhory, b h many hings i appars o rjc. n fac, i somims sms asif globalizaion horiss spn almos as mch im criiqing alaivprspcivs an focss as hy o vloping h hory islf. Whil hymay isagr on h spcics of h approach, hy o agr mch mor onias o which hy ar oppos Among h hings ha n o b rjcar

a focs on any singl naion-sa;2 a focs on h Ws in gnral, or h Uni Sas in pariclar;





3 a conc with th impact of th Wst wstization o th UnitdStats Amicanization on th st of th wold

4 a conc with homognization ath than htognization5 a conc with modity as contastd with postmodity6 an intst in what sd to b calld modnization thoy Tiyakian

1991 )

t s look at ach of ths as wll as what th wok on fast-food staantsand cdit cads and lat on th nw mans of consmption tlls s abotthm

Fist th focs on th glob as th nit of analysis is gnally copldwith a ction of a focs on th nationstat and latd phnomna Thisis a slt of a Dkhimian sns of mgnc o th viw that th globalwhol is mo than a collction of xtaposd paticlaitis y,1994 14) Thfo, gobalization thoy involvs a shift in nit ofanalysis y, 1994 14) Mo ngativy y ags that w mstmak th pimay nit of analysis th global systm and not som sbnit ofit, sch as th nation th state o th region (1994 2 italics addd Evnmo stongly, y ags: Globalization mans fo instanc, that wcannot conciv th whol in tms of on of its pats say th Fist o Thidwolds, o as a composit systm of logicaly pio nation stats (1994 7italics addd

This chang in th nit of analysis is somtims sn as a slt of th factthat th has bn a histoical shift and th nation-stat is no long th

mao pay on th glob Anthony Smith (1990 174) fo xampl agsthat th a of th nationstat is ov This chang is sn as lading to ash in th ain focs of sociology Fo xampl, in Ach's ( 1990 33)viw th globalisation of socie mans that societies a no ong thpim nits of socioogy Indd, classical and contmpoay sociology aoftn castigatd fo thi nasinglmindd conc with th nation to thxclsion of an intst in global pocsss Globalization thoists smintnt on ighting this wong by moving o focs away fom th nation andto th glob Whil thy may b ight abot a taditiona imbaanc in

socioogical concns, and th contmpoay impotanc of global pocsssthis is not to say that th nationstat has casd to b of gat if notpaamont impotanc in th contmpoay wold

In a latd, bt mo gnal, agmnt Appadai ( 1990 30) contndsthat dtitoialization is on of th cntal focs in th mod wold Insch a dtitoiaizd wold, mony commoditis and psons a involvd in casssly chasing ach oth aond th wod Appadai,1990 303) Whi this viw wll dscibs fastfood staants and cditcads, th titoy fom which thy manat lagly th Unitd Stats, as

wll as th titois to which thy a xpotd mains of cntalimpotanc

In pactic, howv globalization thoists do hav a gat dal to sayabot titois and nationstats, bt thy tnd to b derent titois and




Globalization McDonaldization and Americanization 83

saes han hose of ineres in raiional sociology. Tha is o se heconceps of mmanel Wallersein (197 1980 1989), while raiionallysociologiss have focse on core" naions (an erriories) an heir impacon peripheral" naions globalizaion heoriss seem mch more ineresein peripheral naions an he way hey resis or moify ha which emanaes

from he core naions (Smar 199).So as even many globalizaion heoriss implicily acnowlege he

naion-sae remains imporan oay However i is cerainly no js heperipheral naions ha are of signicance neeless o say core naions liehe Unie S aes are of grea if no overwhelming imporance n or rsho focs on he globe we shol no lose sigh of he imporance of naionsaes both core and periphery

The fas-foo resaran an he crei car are boh very isinciveprocs of he Unie Saes ha is o a single naion-sae While i ha

precrsors he rs rly imporan chain of fas-foo resaransMcDonals opene in he Unie Saes in 1955 Similarly while i ooha preecessors he rs moe niversal" crei car Diners Clb wasrs isse in he Unie Saes in 1950 an he rs moe ban car wascreae by he Franlin Naional an o Long slan in 1 9 5 1 anAmericar (laer Visa) was originally isse in Califoia in 1958 by hean of America Maser Charge (laer MaserCar) was fone in 1966 byseveral large Chicago bans n many ways hese innovaions in he meansof consmpion (an many ohers o be iscsse below) col only have

emerge from a specic naion They were generae by he aence anhe mobiliy especially via aomobile ha are so mch associae wih heposWorl War Unie Saes Ths while we cerainly nee o conceorselves wih global processes we ms also be ane o he specicnare of a given naion in orer o nersan is role an place in he globalsocety

While fas-foo resarans an crei cars are procs of a singlenaion hey are cerainly global in characer n fac wih heir Americanmares becoming more an more crowe an sarae he fas-foo an

crei car companies are focsing on ineaional expansion. For exampleMcDonal's is now opening more oles overseas each year han i is in heUnie Saes an half is pros come from overseas operaions. Similarlywih he American mare moving owar saraion he crei car companies are concenraing on ineaional expansion Neverheless heirpoin of origin was he Unie Saes.

A conce wih he procs of he Unie Saes even if hey are globalin characer sans in opposiion o he rejecion by globalizaion heorissof a focs on he Unie Saes or he Wes in general as well as on he

processes of Americanizaion or weseizaion (oberson 1992 Frieman199) For example Feahersone ( 1 99 1 : 1 27 ) criiqes he iea ha consmer clre on a global scale parallels he expansion of he power of heUnie Saes over he worl economic orer Here consmer clre is seen





as sin o bcom a nivsal cl which soys ach cony' s ownnaional cl" Fahson ( 1 99 1 : 1 4 2 also ciiqs a mo gnalfocs on h Ws: if w consi h laions bwn naionsas anpow blocs on h global lvl i can b ag ha a shif is aking placaway fom h Ws" Pis (994: 163 ciicizs h noion of wsiz

aion fo offing a naow winow on h wol hisoically an clally" Sch jcions a acabl o h fac ha mch hinking aboinaional pocsss was in h pas bias in h icion of Amicaan h Ws Amicanizaion an wsizaion Globalizaion hoissag ha sch pspcivs w misgi an hnocnic

Fhmo vn if sch hoiss a willing o ami (an hy an)ha Amicanizaion an wsizaion aqaly scib h pas hyag ha h wol has chang has bcom mo compss" ansbjc o mli-imnsional an mli-icional pocsss Smih ags

ha oays global cl has bcom cn Toays mginggloba cl is i o no place o pio is conx-lss a mlangof ispaa componns awn fom vywh an nowh bo ponh mo chaios of global lcommnicaions sysms" (1990: 177ialics a) n igh of h mis of commnism Fiman (1994: 99ss a cisis wih h bakown of h global o an clining cns ofh wol sysm" Ths fom h poin of viw of globalizaion hoiss afocs on Amica an h Ws o Amicanizaion an wsizaionwol b boh fa oo siciv an o of och wih conmpoay global

aliisAgain, whil h i s mch h in his i mains h cas ha h is a

ispopoiona amon of goos bois of infomaion an oh clalpocs manaing fom h Uni Sas an h Ws: a ga al mohan h is owing ino hm Mo gnally mch of h s of hwo is sbc o wsizaion an Amicanizaion n fac wih hah of commnism wih h n of h only viabl lag-scal alaivo WsAmicansy capiaism h wo is mo opn an vlnabl o his han v bfo Th main opposiion o hs pocsss will

com fom local cls (McKay 1996 an i mains o b sn js howcapabl many of hs cls wil b of waing off sch incsions onhi own

Th fasfoo saans a binging o h s of h wol no only igMacs an fnch fis b mo impoanly h Amican syl of aing onh n Th fas-foo saan bings wih i h ia (an h sc oimplmn i) ha aing is somhing o b compl as qickly anffolssly as possibl Similaly ci cas mak i asi o pchasAmican goos lik Lvis an Ppsi an mo gnally h Amican

consm cl Fasfoo saans an ci cas a bginning ooo h glob an o bing wih hm h Amicanizaion of localcls This jgmn is in in wih Dzlay's ( 1990: 281 conclsion inanoh omain ha h globalizaion of h mak fo lgal svics is





for h mos par an Amricanizaion" To paraphras Dzlay, h worlwi spra of fas-foo rsarans an cri cars is primarily anAmricanizaion of h worl.

This focs on Amricanizaion (an wsrnizaion) is no o ny hinpnn imporanc of local clrs As w hav sn, McDonals

roinly aaps islf o local marks an for hir par h locals aaphs rsarans o hir clrs Whil McDonals slls procs lik igMacs an fris hrogho h worl, i also slls procs aap o hns an mans of local marks Tak h following, for xampl:

n Norway, McDonals slls McLaks, a grill salmon sanwich wih illsac on a whol-grain bra.

n h Nhrlans, a gronbrgr (or vgabl brgr) is on h mnUrgayan McDonal s spor McHvo (hambrgrs wih poach gg) an

McQsos (oas chs sanwichs).Thai McDonal s offr Samrai pork brgrs marina in riyaki sacn Japan, w n a Chickn Tasa sanwich, fri chickn spic wih soy

sac an gingr, wih cabbag an msar mayonnais.Finally in h Philippins, McDonals offrs McSpaghi, wih omao

sac an a ma sac wih frankfrr bis (Sllivan, 1995)

ocal clrs hav proc hir own vrsions of fas-foo rsaranssch as Lbanons Jicy rgr an nias Nirlas (as wll as sskoyisro, iscss in Chapr 6) Frhrmor, Amrican fasfoo rsaransmay hav a vry iffrn maning in ohr sociis innr a McDonalsmay b consir an lgan an xpnsiv a or a family oing harqirs monhs of saving

Apparai (1990: 295) args ha h cnral problm of oays globalinracions s h nsion bwn clral homognizaion an clralhrognizaion" Mos globalizaion horiss arg ha w ar winssinggrar hrognizaion, whil h spra of fas-foo rsarans an cricars aron h worl poins owar incras homognizaion. Ths,Fahrson ( 1 9 9 1 ) vos a chapr o h globalizaion of ivrsiy"

Pirs ( 1994 161 ) rcs a singlmin focs on homognizaion anargs for viwing globalisaion as a procss of hybriisaion which givsris o a gobal mlang" As xampls of clral hybriizaion (h is alsoinrs in srcral hybriizaion), Pirs ors h following: Thaiboxing by Moroccan girls in Amsram, Asian rap in Lonon, rish bagls,Chins acos an Mari Gras nians in h Uni Sas" (Pirs, 1994:169)

n fac, of cors, i is possibl for both hings o b Tha is, w canhav h grar homognizaion of som aspcs of or livs along wih h

grar hrognizaion of ohr aspcs This is h posiion akn byGins (1990: 64): Globalizaion can hs b n as h innsicaionof worlwi social rlaions which link isan localiis in sch a way haloca happnings ar shap by vns occing many mils away an vic





vrsa." obrtson ( 1992 32 taks a similar position on this iss n thial-typical form of my concption of th global hman conition it ispossibl for thr to b an al mphasis pon socital niqnss on thon han an th commonality of mankin on th othr." SimilarlyFriman ( 1 990 3 1 1 contns Ethnic an cltral fragmntation an

moist homognization ar two constittiv trns of global rality"Smart (1994 157 args that global transformations hav l simltanosly to th isprsion of som common forms commoitis an ias anyt in so far as thy ar rciv intrprt aapt an tilis inpotntially raically ifrnt cltral contxts hav contribt to th(rproction an (rconstittion of ifrnc an ivrsity." Similarlyan mor spcically yr (1994 3 args

h gloal systm coos nhrt or constrct clural an prsonal nt

s y also ncourags th craon an rvtalzaon of partcuar ns as away of ganng control ovr sysmc powr I s n h contxt of ths las faurhat rgon plays on of ts sgncant ros n th vopmn aoraon, anprolmatzaton of th gloal systm

King (1990 410 concls that th worls citis ar growing simltanosly mor similar to an iffrnt from ach othr" n fact as w havsn a nmbr of globalization thorists arg that it is homognization thattns to bring forth htrognization as a rspons to it.

Th coxistnc of homognization an htrognization is manifst in

th concpt of glocalization" rcting a complx an rciprocal rlationship btwn th global an th local (obrtson 992 73 Similarlyriman (199 12 focss on th ongoing articlation btwn globalan local procsss" Mor spcically h args that th local is itslf aglobal proct" (Friman 1994 198 an contns that w hav both thcltral plralization of th worl" an th formation of a singl worlcltr . th things an symbols of Wstrn cltr hav iffs into thaily livs of many of th worls popls" (Friman 1994 100. This issimilar to obrtson's viw that w hav witnss both th particlariz

ation of nivrsalism" (th worl as a singl plac an th nivrsalizationof particlarism" (th global xpctation that socitis shol hav thir ownistinctiv intitis obrtson is right in his viw that local cltrs arnot crsh by global phnomna Howvr th spra of fast-foo rstarants an crit cars inicats that sch global procsss are having apowrfl homognizing fct on hm. I wol tak iss with Frimans(1994 239 contntion that Wst procts hav not l to homognization bt hav sppli raw matrials for nw local variations" WhilFriman offrs som important xampls I am har prss to s

McHvos McLaks or lgant ats at fast-foo rstarants as signicantlocal variations on th homognizing procss of McDonalization

Mor gnrally obrtson is corrct in pointing to th global importancof factors lik thnicity nationalism rac an gnr Ths can an o





eta the pogess of McDonalization an Ameicanization At the sametime, the foces behin the latte pocesses actiely seek to netalize schfactos by co-opting them into the system Fo example, aetisements aetailoe to the nees an inteests of ifeent ethnic an national gops,iffeent aces, an both genes

Most globalization theoists also eject moe theoies an fao postmoe appoaches (Smat, 1994) eye (1994 8 ages that this globalspea has eslte in a new social nit which is mch moe than a simpleexpansion of Weste moeity" Howee, fast-foo estaants an ceitcas can be seen as highly moe phenomena Fo example, to se theconcept ationality most often associate with moeity, they ae highlyational, emphasizing the most efcient ways of obtaining a meal, pchasing goos an seices, an getting ceit Fthemoe, these an otheational phenomena ae of inceasing impotance in the West an ae

speaing thoghot the est of the wol This stans in contast to aiosieas associate with postmoeism. Postmoeists wol age that thewol is gowing less athe than moe ational an that local cltes ae ofgeate impotance than sch a homogenizing ten as inceasing ationalization Fthemoe, the ationalization thesis implies a gan naatie whichis ejecte by postmoeists in fao of local o een iniial naaties

Feathestone (990: 2) ages that postmoeism ejects the iea ofpoto niesal clte iing on the back of Weste economic an

political omination" This inoles a ejection not only of westeizationan Ameicanization, bt also of the ieas of cltal impeialism an theexpotation of mass consme clte et what the fast-foo an ceit cainsties epesent is pecisely that. They are inole in a geneal eot toexpot Ameican clte with the aim of gaining contol oe inigenoscltes Moe speccall, the ae nole in the expotation o Ameicas mass consme clte One of the things that istingishes theseeffots fom peios eots sch as coca-colonization (Kisel , 993) is thatAmeica is not meely expoting pocts, bt also, an moe impotantly,

the means to consme those an othe pocts. Fast-foo estaants anceit cas ae bette seen as means of consmption than as consmepocts they can be se as means to consme anything an eeythingThey ae moe impotant than pocts that pecee them into the intenational maketplace sch as Coca-Cola an eis since they ae not meelyalteing what is consme in othe cltes, bt also the wy in which theyan many othe things ae consme n that sense, thei impact is fa geatean fa moe peasie.

In aition, Feathestone ( 1990: 3) ages that postmoeism assmes

that we hae moe beyon the logic of the niesal ion cageationalization pocess " Of cose, the opposite thesis , the geate poximityof the ion cage as time passes, is pecisel the point of my wok on fastfoo estaants Similaly, ceit cas epesent the ationalization of the




88 The xpansion of McDonaldization

loan procss (s Chapr 8 an hav, in , hlp o fhr raionalizall yps of consmpion

inally, gobaliaion hoiss conras hir prspciv o h moizaion hoy ha was poplar svral cas ago (Archr, 1990 ahrson (1990, for on args ha Ws moiy, an hrfor

implicily moizaion hory, is xhas Howvr, h spa of fasfoo saans an cri cars sms o sppor moizaion hoyWhil hr is som ovrlap bwn h hsis abo h growh of hsphnomna an ha hory, h is a las on absolly ccial iffrnc Moizaion horiss n o la Ws vlopmns an org h rs of h worl o mov in his ircion n conas, my work onfasfoo rsaans an cri cas has bn highly ciical of hsvlopmns. Mos of hs criicisms ar sbsm nr h haing ofh iraionaliy of aionaliy. Thr ar many irraionaliis associa wih

hs sysms, spcially hmanizaion rom a global prspciv hsraional sysms n o bring abo homognizaion an an incrasinglyhomognos worl is a lss hman worl. Ohr naions ar g o rsissch incrsions or a las o y o aap hm o h local clr n fac,givn is focs on formal (or insrmnal aionaliy, an is criicalcharacr, my appoach is closr o ha of aniAmican hinking anciical hory han i i s o moizaion hoy (s Chapr 6) .

Criical horiss wr concrn wih h ris of insrmnal raionaliyan is xnsion from pocion o consmpion (ahrson 1991

col b arg ha wha am oing is xning his ciiq fromconsm goos o h mans of consmpion This wol sm o b in linwih h posmo crq of consm cl, h s an imporaniffnc. osmoiss sch as arillar ar focaly conc wihh consmpion of signs an no of s vals as marial iliis nconras, my main conc is h ffc of sch marial raliis as fas-foosarans an ci cas an ohr mans of consmpion on consmpion My posiion can also b broaly conras wih h clal " inh social scincs an sn as a rassrion of h imporanc of marial

aliis in consmpionThs fa, hav ma his argmn in largy ngaiv ms. Tha is hav bn ciically analysing h jcion by globalizaion horiss ofvarios prspcivs an social raliis y way of smmary, l m now hings aon an p h cas am making mor posiivly.

• Th vlopmn an gowh of fasfoo rsarans an cri carsinica ha h naion-sa conins o b imporan in sociologicalanalysis.

• Mor spcically h Ws in gnral, an h Uni Sas in paric

lar conins o b cnal o global analyss• laly, h procsss of wsizaion an Amicanizaion conin

o hav a profon ffc on h wol conomically, poliically anclrally.





• Th spra of fas-foo rsaras a cri cars iicas ha hrar powrfl homogizig rs i h worl oay, alhogh ha oso y a paralll r i h ircio of hrogizaio.

• Th vlopms of coc i his chapr, spcially giv hirhighly raioal characrisics, iica ha w coi o liv i a

worl wih may mo characrisics; i is prmar o clar h of moiy a h awig of posmoiy

• Ths vlopms sm spporiv of wha s o b call moizaio hory Howvr, i is impota o rmmbr ha o is ocssarily scribig sirabl vlopms wh o alks of moizaio. Moizaio ca a os hav sirabl, irraioalcosqcs for sociis

Pints f Agreement

Whil hav mphasiz aras of isagrm wih globalizaio horiss,hr ar svral pois of agrm bw or prspcivs. For xampl, wol agr wih Fahrso ( 1990 12) ha w ca aicipacoiig srggls o h global clral orr." Similarly, accpobrso s coio ha h global orr is p for grabs " Whr I iffrwih Fahrso a obtso is ovr h ar of h srggl From myprspciv, i is a sggl i which h Ws i gral, a spcially hUi Sas, hols h ppr ha Wih h ah of commism, hr is

o larg-scal alaiv o iaioal capialism. ocal clrs willcraily coi o b impora a will rmai capabl o oly ofgraig hir ow ways of lif, b of moifyig a alrig h imporsfrom ohr sociis, spcially h Ui Sas (McKay, 1996) Som mayv scc i xporig sigica lms of hir clr o largrtins f th rst f th r t thy i s ntin t bbombar, a graly alr, by xpos from h Ws i gral a hUi Sas i pariclar

o agr wih Fahrsos coio (1990 10) ha hr is

lil prospc of a i global clr, rahr hr ar global clrs ih plral." Smih ( 1990 17 1 ) maks a similar argm, coig hah ia of a global clr is a pracical impossibiliy." Harz is oarg wh h says

There is now a worl cuture . t is mare y an organization of iversyrather han by a repcation of unformity No total homogenzaon of systems ofmeanng an expression has occurre nor oes i appear iey ha there wi beone anyime soon Bu the wor has bcme on ntwor of soca reaonshipsan eween ts ferent regns thre is a ow of meanings as we of peope angoos (annrz 990 3 aics ae

Howvr, whil w will coi o s global ivrsiy, may, mos,prhaps vally all of hos clrs will b ac by Amricaxports; Amrica will bcom vitally vryos sco clr."




90 The Expanion o McDonaldiation

Wi I s a song n in wo a momn owa Amicanizaion I o no in a a n wi as fo. In fac isinc a in ssia iniia o affai is bbing an is asgnc of ins in ings ssian (McKay 1996) In is iscssion of goba ma fo ga sics Dzay ss i as omina by

Amicanizaion b aso ags a is is my a isoicain" sing fom a sa of Amican awys (Dzay 1990287) W a in a simia in in Amican gmony in fasfoosaans ci cas an o mans of consmpion. Enay mcof s of wo wi cac p in s aas (as y a inpocion an no ony bcom b ab o cono i own sociisb bgin xpoing i caions o o sociis.

Wi I a focs on ifncs bwn gobaizaion oy an apspci i fom my wo on fasfoo saans an ci cas

a ways in wic a pnomna can b a wi n aing of gobaizaion oy. Fo xamp obson (1992 8) nsgobaizaion as a pocss ncompassing compssion of wo" an innsicaion of consciosnss of wo as a wo." wowi psnc of fas-foo saans an ci cas as s ocompss wo an os wo iiz m a cainy ma moconscios of goba sysm.

Gobaizaion oiss aso mpasiz opmn of i cswiin goba sysm (obson 1992) s a paiay aonomos

cs a anscn naiona bonais an xis on a goba basis.Appaai (1990) as ini sa. Fo xamp is gobananscap" aing wi momn of mgamonis og naionasis a bining sp" (Appaai 1 990 298) Cay ci-cainsy is pa of nanscap. I an fas-foo insy a aso paof noscap inoing momn of ag nmbs of pop iaoism (s Cap 10) An bo insis spciay ci-cainsy a pa of cnoscap mpoying cnoogis a gi gob

Gobaizaion oiss cogniz impoanc of conomic an poi

ica facos b gi spcia anon o ca facos an mgncof a goba c" (obson 1 992: 1 14) How o obson ( 199235) , goba c is no nomaiy bining b simpy a gnamo of iscos abo wo as a wo an is aiy." Cay fasfoo saans an ci cas a no ony of conomic signicanc; yaso a of ga ca signicanc. y a cainy inncing wos mo of iscos b I aso in in conas o obson ay a caing nomai consains on way pop a an consm

Fiman (1994 103) ags a consmpion is an aspc of boaca sagis of sf-nion an sfmainnanc." Ci caspofony a way in wic ings a consm. Fiman singso aing as of cna ca impoanc an fasfoo saans a





racally alerig he way i which may people i may clres ea og his, crei cars a fasfoo resaras are chagg, a leas osome egree, people's eos of self.

Means f Cnsumptin

Fas-foo resaras a crei cars are far from he oly Americaexpors ha are racally alerig he globe. Frhermore, is o s hahe Ue Saes is procg cosmer goos ha are beg expore o heres of he worl. Wha fas-foo resaras a crei cars show s ha heUe Saes is ow i he bsess of creaig, procg a exporgramaic ew meas of cosmpio Oce he ceer of revolioary ewevelopmes i he meas of procio, he Uie Saes is ow beerescribe as he ceer of he creao of raically ew meas of cosmp

o. Exporig he meas of cosmpio o oher socieies, ofe alogwh he goos o be cosme by hem, is of far greaer imporace hasimply exporg sch goos aloe. his raically alers o s wha peoplecosme, b he ways i whch hey cosme

he oio of meas of cosmpo is erive from Marxs cocep ofhe meas of procio, or he ools, maches, raw maerals, a so oowe by he capials a eee by he prolearia i orer o beprocve. Meas of cosmpio ca be ee as hose higs owe bycapaliss a reere by hem as ecessary o csomers orer for hem

o cosme. he chas of fas-foo resaras a he cre-car sysemclearly hs eiio. ike Marxs meas of proco, meas ofcosmpio shol be see as maerial pheomea

Fas-foo resaras a crei cars are o he oly ew meas ofcosmpio beg geerae by he Uie Saes We ca cle erhs heaig sch preecessors as he spermarke Walsh, 1993 a heshoppig mall Kowisk, 985 Of greaer ieres are he meas ofcosmpio emergg i he Uie Saes oay a sill he very earlysages of beig expore o he res of he worl ake, for example, he Vshoppg chaels sch as Home Shoppig Nework HSN) For hose ofyo familiar wih , HSN s a 24hor a ay, seveay a week, elevsoework evoe o ohig b shoppig Goos are splaye a vewersare gve phoe mbers o call i orer o place her orers. hisevelopme, by he way, is mae possible by he exsece a wesprease of crei cars HSN a he oher smlar eworks is revolioary iha i breaks ow space, a especally ime, barrers o cosmpio. Nowgoos from aywhere he worl ca be prchase a ay ime of he ayor igh; o more frsraio over beg able o cosme becase heshops are close We are alreay begiig o see more global versos of

HSN.Aoher evelopme worh oig s he ogog fsio of cosmpio

a eeraime he goal of eerame has become cosmpo;cosmpio ms be eeraig a sese, here is ohig ew here.





Fairs for xamp hav log b boh marks a sis of plasr Thpr-isrial caivasq raiio has og b icorpora i hmo worl (Fahrso 99 Howvr his fsio of cosmpioa amsm has bcom far mor wispra a i has b raioaliz(mafacr saz homogi Th ol orr isorr of fairshas b rasform o mch orr a woflly lil if ay isorr

For xamp amsm parks lk Dsyla a Disy Worl whhy ar ossibly abo raim ca b s as rally shoppig masfor h vas array of Dsy procs (Fjllma 992. Shoppg mallshmsvs ar comig o look mor a mor lik amsm parks: hhg malls i loomgo Msoa a moo Caaa irallycompass amsm parks compl wih rolrcoasrs a frris whls.Lr o h malls by h amsms may cosmrs say o shop arik s a movi visi a ss cr a so o Fahrso ( 99 : 03

has scrib a glish vrso of sch a mal Mrocr a GashaTh Mrocr has promo islf as a oris aracio wih isAiqs Villag faasy faryal Kgom of Kig Wiz Acioma Form gallry. .

Malls ar also bg rasform by compassig mor bsisss mosof hm chais vo xclsivly o raim (Prsslr 995a.Thr ar h of frachs play crs (Dscovry Zo for xampwhr pars ca av hir chilr whil hy go shoppg. Th biggrowh ara howvr is h a pay crs (Dav a srs Q

Zar of varos yps profraig hrogho h malls of Amrica(Prsslr 1995b. Dav a sr s s al raim 90 s syl wihozs of spcally ma blliar abls a shboars caiva gamsplayforf blackjac sa-of-h-ar croic simaors a viralraiy pos whr payrs ca gh viral proacyls or o aohr(Prsslr 995a D QZar is a 5mi gam of asr ag play by woams wih p o 20 payrs o ach am. Each payr has a lasr g awars a vs wih lasr-ssiiv pals

Mi pon overhea whe he playe weave an a owar eah ohehome bae looking fo he enemy Paye know hey have "agge a memberof he oppoie eam when a omper voie fom he gn exaim Goo ho!The age ve vibae when i h Compe ak eah playe' ammnion leve an h raio. Prele 995b: D )

Draw o h malls o pay als o oly sp larg sms of moy ahs crs b say o o sp v largr sms a h malls mayshops.

y h way som of h arlir iovaors i h mas of cosmpiohav log rcogiz ha hy ar i h bsiss of sig f o sl goos

Sprmarks s gams cows a f foos (Co Choca brakfascral for xampl o hlp mark hir wars Fas-foo rsaras kowha wha hy ar sllig giv h ma characr of hir foo isf. Ths hy ar characrz by brigh ghs garsh colors clows




Gobaization McDonadization and Americanization 93

an catoon chaacts, an abov all th kin of ng foo on associatswith amsmnt paks

Fathston ( 1 99 1 1 03 ) has off th following ovviw of vlop-mnts in shopping cnts, malls an patmnt stos:

Within these sites it is apparent that shopping is arely a prely calclativerational economic transaction to maximize tility bt is primarily a leisretimecltral activity i which people become aiences who move throgh spectaclarimagery esigne to connote smptosness an lxry or to smmon pconnotations of esirable exotic ar-away places an nostalgia for past emotionaharmonies n short shopping has become an experience

Whil fast-foo staants an spmakts may not con p a sns oflxy, thy o sk to mak th cstoms visit an xpinc"

As fo cit cas, thy psnt th ial way to pay Thy asmingly magical kys that opn th oos to all of ths wonos

xpincs Not only o thy allow on to patak in all of thm, bt it allappas, at last fo th momnt, to b f Cit cas a meta-means:mans that mak possibl th oth mans of consmption W a likly tos xpansion in oth mta-mans of consmption (bit cas, lctonicfns tansfs in th ft

W a now vn witnssing th mgnc of metametameans. Tak,fo xampl, Hospitality Fanchis Systms, an oganization that povissvics to fanchiss Fo xampl, fo th hotl chains that it owns (gamaa, Days Inn, it povis makting svics an cntaliz sva

tion systms It has cntly ag to by th lagst sintial al statchain in th USA, Cnty 2 1 an will povi it with a simila st ofsvics (McDowll, 1995)

tning to th cntal thm, fast-foo staants an cit cas ast two of a stay stam of innovations in th mans of consmption thaton can xpct from th Unit Stats n th comng yars hy ar notsimply abant phnomna; thy a pat of a long-tm pocss that isalting th way popl consm an liv

Lst th a still b way of th conclsions bing awn h, lt m

clos with yt on mo xampl of a voltion in th mans in consmption, this tim on which is as yt in th vy alist stags of vlopmntThis is th mgnc of cybmalls" on th Intt Whil th winklsa still bing wok ot (fo xampl, Visa an Mastca ar cntlyioning ot th tails on how to pay fo th pocts pchas sinc citca nmbs can asily b compomis on th Intt, it is st a mattof tim ntil mo an mo pchass will b ma via th cybmalls onth Intt What is stiking abot this vlopmnt is its global implications Th will com a tim whn anyon with a compt any plac in th

wol can tap into th Intt an its cybmalls W will witnss annpcnt lvl of homognization of consmption aon th wol;th wol will in ffct hav its own shopping mall Cat in Amica, annobtly ominat at last initially by Amican tchnology an





Amrican bsinsss h cybrma\s will a o y highr lvls ofAmricanizaion an homognizaion

Ntes

Tis cpter is te text of pper presente t plenry session of te meetins of teIntetionl Institte of Socioloy Trieste tly in ly 1995 A version ws pblise sTe McDonliztion Tesis s xpnsion Inevitble Ieatal y, I I , 199629\-308

Te reection of focs on te ntionstte is bt pt of broer reection ofprioritizin ob sbnits "ethie, ntions sttes, orniztions, movements, or reiions . [re] no loner conceive simply s oicly preexistin socil nities Beyer 1994 14).Feterstone 1 99 1 146 enes etnie s "te set of symbols, myts memories eroesevents lnscpes n tritions woven toeter in poplr consciosness . te ron for common ctre.

2 I se te terminoloy of worlsystems teory ere even to s mentione bove,tt teory is often evily criticize by oter obliztion teorists.

3 t mit we be tt te tinkin of lobiztion teorists s been istote by teirfocs on telecommnictions wic en temselves qite reiy to lobliztion Oterintetionl processes, like tose tkin plce in te fstfoo n creit cr instries onot len temselves s esily to lobliztion t lest s tt process is conceive byobliztion teorists

4 However creit crs cn be, n re, se to prcse inienos oos nservices

5. As pointe ot in te precein cpter tere is not simple onetoone reltionsipbetween tese two processes McDonliztion s oriins otsie te Unite Sttes n

Americniztion involves mc more tn McDonlition6. Alto s we will see lter tey cn lso be nlyse from postmoe per

petve Anoter, s we sw in te precein cpter is tt tey lso invove te exportion of

McDonls bsiness prctices8 Te stfoo instry ts ere too n te sense tt portion of te prots ee in

oter contries is mkin its wy bck to te Unite Sttes.9 is cn be ifferentite from Feterstone s ( 99 1 6) "moes of consmption or

"socilly strctre wys in wic oos re se to emrcte soci reltionsips1 . For more on tis see Cpter 1 0.




Credit Cards and Rationaliation 97

throgh franchsng into a national thn intatona, sinss MDonald andMDonaldzaton, then do not repreent omethng new, but ther the ulmnaton of a ere of atonalaton proee that had been ourrng thughoutthe twenteth entu. Rtzr, 996a )

It i s strikig that two of th most farrachig social a coomc

lopmts of th twtth ctry wr so lackig oatssMor spccally, both th crit car a th fast-foo strs wr

ot ioati tchologcaly Mall 1 990 1 1 says Ioatos i thcrt car istry ha lop slowy Eistig tchology hassally b aapt to t th s of th lopg stry" Smilarly,McDoal's has prfrr to rly o tratioal tchologis a laboritsi procsss rathr tha aborsaig aac tchologs

Th fast-foo rstarats lack of ioatiss has ot b rstrct totchology McDoalz stttos ha also ot lop otabl

w procts" tzr, 996a 1 24 Smlary, thr has b ratiy lttli th way of ioat w procts i th mo crt-car strysic its icptio 949

Still aothr smlarty btw crt cars a fast-foo rstarats isthir hay rliac o artsg This is spcally tr of th lars ith two ls Visa, MastrCar a Amrca Eprss i crt cars aMcDoals, Wys a rgr Kg fast foos Th sstial poit isthat sic thir procts or srcs ar rlatiy istigshab fromthos of thir comptitors, th omiat rms ha soght to achi pr

mc throgh th mploymt of costly a laborat artisigcampaigs Th lars ha spt may billios of ollars o artismts sg to mafactr a ss of rc Ths is ma mor cssary by th fact that th omat compas both stris, atast til rcty, ha ot wat to compt o a prc, or mor prcislya prc-cttg, basis

I rct yars both crt car a ast-oo rms ha b orc toforgo thir arclsi rac o comptiti marktig a gag pric comptto Th hambrgr chais, for ampl, ha fac srcomptitio ot oly from ach othr, bt aso from chais pryg fri

chick, pizza a tacos To mt th thrat, McDoal's a th othrchas ha b forc to o sch thgs as crat low-prc spcials aalmals" For thir part, th major crit car compais a baksha ha to al wth comptitio from th try of o-baks" k AT&Ta Gral Motors a thir co-bra cars to th crt car bsissThy ha b forc to compt by slashig itrst rats a rcig orlimiatig aal fs

Th omat compas i both strs wol prfr ot to gag pric comptito sic t cts rcty ito prots I cotrast, th costs of

comptito throgh marktg a artsg fforts ca b pass o toth cosmr i th form of highr prics, fs a itrst rats Prccomptito has b mor or lss forc o th laig playrs by thgcis of th two bssss





oh fas-foo rsarans an cricar companis hav vo consirabl anion o xpaning pon hir original bas. For charg carcompanis lik Amrican xprss ha bas was bsinsspopl, spciallyhos associa wih larg an sccssfl companis. Lar, Amricanxprss sogh o arac lss an an ss sccssfl bsinsspopl.

Sinc mos Amrican xprss cars wr hl by mn, anion rn oaracing fmals o wha h company wol lik o b known as hCar" Low-ky as aim a fmas an faring yong fmal xcivsan profssionas o h samn by fminis Gloria Sinm haAmrican xprss now maks womn fl wcom an invi" (Friman an Mhan, 1992 1 10 As a rsl of sch ors, by 1984 on-hirof nw carholrs wr womn. h fas-foo chains hav sogh avarios ims o arac vry concivabl grop, incling vry yongchilrn, granparns, hirysomhing" marri copls, an so on.

Cri car rms an fas-foo rsarans hav sogh o xpan in ohrways, as wl. For xampl, fas-foo rsarans hav mov on o collgcampss (Whil, 1987 an ar vn bginning o mak inroas in hnaion's high schools (Mir, 1992) Cri car rms hav sogh o movo of hir al bas of csomrs an arac colg an vn high schoosns Fasfoo rsarans hav vo gra nrgy o moving byonhir raiional fonaion of nag csomrs. Anohr ro for xpansion for boh h fas-foo insry an cri cars has bn ovrsas

oh bsinsss hav sogh o xpan ino hir compiors' omains.For xampl, Amrican xprss bgan is Opima car in 1987 in orr ocomp mor ircly wih Visa an MasrCar xpansion also ook placin h ohr ircion Amrican xprss's Go Car ha cas o bisinciv bcas h banks xpan ino h Gol Car mark Forxampl, Visa bgan offring Gol Cars in 1988 An illsraion of hisphnomnon in h fas-foo insry is h fac ha mos, if no all,hambrgr chains now hanl many of h procs ha wr a h roo ofh sccss of h chickn franchiss cny, raiionaly chil-orinMcDona's has sar o mark h Arch Dlx in orr o comp wihmor aorin chains ik rgr King, wih is Whoppr Varios

chains ar marking foo ims ik acos an brrios, procs ha mah Mxican fas-foo chains h fass growing in h mark.

h abov is no inn o b an xhasiv lis of similariis bwnh cricar an fasfoo insris, b is sggsiv of a wi rang ofsimilis. Wih a sns of his rang as backgron, w now o hsimiariis bwn h wo insris in rms of hir involvmn in hprocss of McDonalizaion

MDnaldizatin

Whil all of h abov liknsss ar imporan, h major similariy bwnfasfoo rsarans an cri cars from h poin of viw of his book isha boh can b sn as par of h procss of raionalizaion. Js as




Credit Cards and Rationaization 99

McDoal's aioaliz h livy of ppa foo, the credit cardrationaized or McDonadized the consumer oan business. Pio oci cas, h pocss of obaiig loas was slow, cmbsom a oaioaliz. Th mo ci ca has ma h acqisiio of a las oyp of loa, h o-collaaliz cosm loa, highly aioal is ow

a vy fci pocss, of qiig lil mo ha h llig o of asho qsioai Wih h xisc of ci bas a compizaio, ci cos ca b chck a applicaios appov (o isappov vy apily Fh, h picabiliy of whh o o a loawill b appov has b galy c a, i h cas of p-appovci cas, complly limia. Th cisio as o whh o o ooff a p-appov ca, o o appov a applicaio fo a ca, is ofl o a o-hma chology h comp Compiz scoigsysms (s pp 1025) x cool ov ci ca compay mploys

by, fo xampl, pvig hm fom appovig a applicaio if h scofalls blow h saa A hs scoig sysms a, by iio,calclabl, lyig o qaiaiv mass ah ha qaliaiv jgms abo higs lik h applica's chaac" Ths, ci ca loas,lik fas-foo hambgs, a ow big sv p i a highly aioaliz,assmblyli fashio As a sl, a vaiy of iaioaliis of aioaliy,spcially hmaizaio, hav com o b associa wih boh

is woh oig ha i ms of big a ip foc i hpocss of McDoalizaio, h aioalizaio of ci ca loas has

play a cal ol i fosig h aioalizaio of oh yps of loasch as aomobil a hom qiy loas. Aomobil loas s o akays, b ow a loa ca b appov, a o ca iv o i a w ca, ia ma of ho, if o mis Similaly, hom qiy loas a obaimch mo qickly a asily ha i h pas Sch loas iliz may ofh sam chologis a pocs (g scoig sysms Vay, 994ha a s i cisio makig ivolvig ci cas Js as h pocss ofaioalizaio is shig hogh sociy as a whol spaha by h fasfoo isy, i is vbaig acoss h bakig a loa bsiss l byh ci ca isy Fhmo, w ca aicipa ha ov im ohyps of loa ivolvig lag a lag sms of moy (mogags absiss loas, fo xamp will b icasigly McDoaliz Mogally, vially vy fac of bakig a ac will b movig i hsam icio

W ca alay g a glimps of h aioaliz f of bakig a obach of Higo acshas of Colmbs, Ohio (Hasll , 994 Thbach i qsio is h bsis of h baks 350 ols, oig as mayhom qiy loas as 1 00 ypical bachs a halig as may w cicas as 220 of hos bachs I is isigish by h fac ha none of is

bsiss is o i pso, i is a o by lpho Of h fa ofaliaig csoms bcas of h hmaizaio associa wih hisyp of bakig, h chaima of Hgo says I o mi offigcsoms a losig hm if i bs h bak i h log . . '





rahr hav fwr csomrs an mak an awfl lo of mony on hm hanhav a lo of csomrs an los or shir (Hansll, 1994 D 3

Whavr is impac on csomrs, h branch is crainly fcin Forxampl, i is abl o approv a loan in n mins, vn if h rqs isma by phon in h mil of h nigh Hr is h way h sysm

worksAs soon as a "tho bar tys th rst fw intifyig tais of anaication onto th comtr th machin atomatically ns th rcors of thcstomrs rvios activity with ntington an simltanosy orrs anctroic vrso of th aicant's crit bra l. Th hon banr thcontacts by agr o of two saso loan ofcrs who roam th maz of ofccbics i th thon cntr

With rintots of th baning rcors crit an comtranalys loanaication i han a oan ofcr can gnrally ma a cisio in ss than amint. Th ba says its crit robms ar o gratr than for oans from its

branchs (ansll 994 D 3I is inrsing o rc on h so-call lphon bankr" scrib

abov in rlaion o h procss of raionalizaion This wol appar o bh conrpar a h bank o h McDonal's conrprson or h workra h riv-hrogh winow Tlphon bankrs ar far lss skill hanhir prcssors Thy ar rc o glori compr opraors wih hrly imporan an ifcl work (analyss of cri rcors an loancisions bing on by h compr chnologis an h loan ofcrs nhis way, McDonaliz banking brings wih i skilling," an mor

gnrally h frhr raionalizaion of bank work is forcas ha abo 40 prcn of h I bank branchs in h

Uni Sas ar likly o b clos ovr h nx ca (Hansll, 1994Som of his is o mrgrs, b mch will b h rsl of hs nw,mor fcin branchs an lphon bankrs rplacing a nmbr of hconvnional branchs an raiional bankrs Of cors, ATMs (s p 109hav long play a ky rol in h clin in bank branchs an now hr isvinc of similar chnologis ha, for xampl, acally gran anispns small loans (Singlary, 1996.

s now rn o a iscssion of ach of h imnsions of McDonalizaion an h ways in which hy apply o h cri car bsinss

Calculabili

Calclabiliy is rc in h fas-foo rsarans by, for xampl, hnams hy giv o hir procs Ths sally mphasiz ha h procsar larg in siz Exampls incl h ig Mac, h Whoppr, h Whalr(rnam, no oo long ago, ig Fish an iggi fris Th mphasis onhings ha can b qani is also rc in procs lik h Qarr

Ponr, in pbliciy on how many billions of hambrgrs ar sol an inhow qickly pizzas can b livr

Th cri car insry also mphasizs varios hings ha ar qani, alhogh his mor consrvaiv insry gnrally shis away from h




Credit Cards and Rationalization 1 0

ceve, sie-oiente names employe in the fast-foo inusty. (Howeve,one is le to wone ust how long it will be befoe we see something likethe Whoppe Ca" Among the most visibe of the quantie aspects ofceit cas ae thei ceit limits, inteest ates an annual fees (o lacktheeo

The ceit ca pemits people to maximize the numbe of things they canbuy an optimize the amount of money they can sen on them Afte all, byoffeing instant ceit up to a pe-ene, but expanable, limit, ceit casallow people to be able not only to spen al of thei available money, but inthe case of those who evolve thei accounts, to go into ebt fo pehapsthousans of ollas In an effot to incease thei evel of ebt, people oftenseek to maximize thei ceit limits on each of thei cas an to accumulateas many cas as possible, each with its own, hopefully (fom thei point ofview high, ceit limit. In fact, impotant status symbols in moe society

ae the numbe of ceit cas one has in one's wallet as well as thecollective limit of ceit avaiable on those cas athe than the amount ofsavings one has, the moe status symbol is often how much ebt one hasan, bette yet, how much moe ebt one can incu. In sum, ceit casemphasize a whole seies of things that can be quantie numbe of cas,magnitue of ceit limits, amount of ebt an the numbe of goos ansevices that can puchase

Cacuability involves not only an emphasis on quantity, but also acompaative lack of inteest in quality In the fastfoo estauant this is

manifest in the conce fo lage potions (ig Mac an low pices (valuemeals an a coesponing lack of inteest in taste (thee is no DeliciousMac" fo sale at you local McDonals

The stess on the quantity of ceit ca ebt pemitte also leas to aessening of inteest in the quality of the things that one can acquie whileunning up tat ebt With a nite amount of cash on han o in the bank,the consume tens to be moe caeful, often buying a elatively smalnumbe of high-quality goos that pomise a long an useful life ut, ifthings ae bought on seemingy eve-expanable ceit, thee is often lessemphasis on quaity Instea, the accent is on buying lage numbes of

things. Thee is compaatively litte conce that those things ae likely toeteioate swity Afte all, if things wea out quicly, they can beeplace, often on the basis of a late, an highe, ceit limit

elately, the eay availability of vitually anything an eveything onceit eas to a eveling in the value of goos (an sevices . This euctionof eveything to a common enominato causes the cynical attitue iscusse by Geog Simmel that eveything has its pice, that anything can bebought (o so on the maket Since anything can be bought at any time,peope eveop a blas attitue towa those things Simme 19071978

256) escibes this as a view of al things as being of an equally ull angey hue, as not woth getting excite about." The blas peson has lostcompetely the ability to make value iffeentiations among the ultimateobects of puchase ut slightly ieently, the ceit ca (an befoe that




Credit Cards and Rationalization 1 3

Scoing sally involvs a wo-sp pocss Upgav 1987) Fis happlicaion islf is sco by h ci ca company Fo xampl ahomown migh g mo poins han a pson who ns Som applicansa w o a his sag Wh a sfcin nmb of poins a scoon h applicaion h ln pocs o by a ci po on h applican

fom a ci ba I is h sco on h ci po ha is ky o hcision on whh o no o iss a ca Sai a vic-psin of acompany in h bsinss of signing scoing mols fo lns: o canhav an applicaion has goo as gol b if yov go a losy cipo yo g n own vy im " Upgav 1987: 146) In ohwos i is h nmbs an no mo qaliaiv facos ha a limalycisiv

Scoing mols vay fom on local o anoh an a pa o cchanging coniions. Whil h is ga vaiaion fom po o po h

following ims sally civ h mos wighFis 3 pcn o mo of h oal poins may b if h

applican simply alay has a nmb of ci an chag cas Havingoo many cas may cos poins b having no cas a all may b an vnmo sios liabiliy.

Scon 25 pcn o mo of h poins a bas on h applicansco of paying off accmla chags ing linqn on a Visa oMasCa is likly o cos mo poins han bing la on a paymn o apamn so Th ci ca companis hav fon ha vn whn

popl a having conomic ifclis hy y o say cn on hici ca paymn whil hy migh l hi pamn so bill sliFalling bhin o bing linqn on ci ca bills is a sign of siosnancial ifclis Dlinqncis on sch accons of 3 ays migh nob oo cosly in ms of poins b linqncis of6 ays o mo mighw sc ons chancs of ging aoh ca.

Thi a sis jgmns an bankpcis involving h applicanankpcis a likly o b spcially cosly Accoing o h psin ofa ci-scoing m ns an vy fogiving abo bankpcy . .

Thy g a bankp ipp off a cio an go away wih i lgally"Upgav 1987: 146)

Foh a mass of sabiliy sch as h applicans lngh of n onh job an in his o h plac of sinc. Somon who has liv in hsam plac fo h o mo yas migh g wic as many poins assomon who has cnly mov

Fih h high h incom of h applican h ga h nmb ofpoins on his imnsion

Sixh occpaion an mploy a impoan Thos in h highs-a

occpaions xcivs an pofssionals a likly o a a lag nmbof poins Similaly bing in h mploy of a sabl an poabl m islikly o gan h applican many poins whas mploymn in a m onh g of bankpcy is likly o b vy cosly





Svnth, ag is impotant an gnally th ol th applicant, th gath nmb of points.

ighth, th possssion of savings an chcking acconts by th applicana impotant. Chckng acconts, bcas by thi m xistnc thy tnto monsta mo ability to manag nancs, gnally gt twic as many

points as savings acconts.Ninth, bing a homown is likly to yil 5 pcnt of th total nmb

of points n.Scoing systms sch as this on qantify th cision-making pocss

involv in h tminaion of whth o not o iss a ci caHowv, ths scoing systms, lik mos calclabl systms in a ationaliz socity, c hman qalitis to abstact qantitis. Fo xampl,thy c th inivial qality of citworthinss o a simpl, singlnmb I is his nmb that cis" whth o not an applicant is, in

fact, wothy of cit in th ys of th cit ca m an not h mohman jgmnt of an ofcial of that m t as on banking consltantpt it, Th chaact of an inivial i s mch mo important than [a citsco] o can t ci who to ln to by sing a comp (Shiv,1988 5 Howv, with a csh of applicants boght on in lag pat bythi own hypactiv citing fots, cit ca ms are mo oftnlying on sch comptiz scoing sysms.

Scoing systms a not s js to w o applicants; thy a alsobing mploy with xisting cit ca cstoms Sai th psint of a

company with2

million cit ca acconts:the software goes n and ooks at attrbtes of a cstomers accont and how thataccont s beng handed b the cstomer] And throgh a statstcal methodoog t ooks at ament atterns sage atterns . We ook at ever accontatomatca and assgn a behavor score hat score s, o wll, an oddsqote, 00 to or 000 to

"t can't redct a secc accont . It can ook at a lot of acconts andredct that ot of that ool o sa, 0000 acconts that one of them wl l godelnqent. So we can look at that oo and get a sense of rsk from the roe(Crenshaw 99b H)

Ths scoing systms a s on xisting cit-ca ss with a

nmb of iffnt prposs in min Fist, th scoing systms hlp thci ca m ci whth o not to incas a crrnt accont hol'sci limit. Th systm will hlp th compt ci" whth h accontwill main cnt vn with an incas in h limi. Scon, h scoingsystms a s to hlp with cisions on whth o not o athoiztansacions hat a ov th ci ca's limit. Th comp can maksch an athoization on its own, o it can pass it on to a hman valao foa cision Thi, a cit ca company migh, mo gnally, vlopscos bas on its own cos, o thos of th cit bas, o tmin

whth cahols a likly to pay hi bills. Foth, scoing systmshlp ci whth cahols who hav jst bcom linqnt willvntally t to crnt stats (hat is, no long b linqnt), obcom mo siosly linqnt This hlps th bank ci whth o




Credit Cards and Ratinalizatin 05

ot acto s eeded ad, f acto s equed, what type fo exampe, et theaccout de, beg a coecto effot, cut the accout of competey). th,scog s sometmes used to deteme whch cadhodes ae key tobecome bakupt. ay, accouts ae scoed to assess whch oes aekey to be the most potabe ad those that offe tte the way of pots

especay accouts of coveece uses" those who pay the accoutbaaces fu each moth, as opposed to the much moe potabeevoves" who u a baace fom moth to moth) ae key to bedopped o ot eewed Detwee, 993)

Eciency

The secod dmeso of atoaty, eciency s mafest the fast-fooddusty, amog may othe ways, the dvethough wdow whch s afa moe efcet way of obtag a mea tha pakg oe's ca, wakg tothe coute, odeg, payg ad etug to the ca wth oe's mea--asack The atte, of couse, was ad s), tu, a much moe ecetmethod fo obtag a mea tha cookg fom scatch. To take oe otheexampe, ge foods ke Chcke McNuggets ae fa moe efcet to eattha chcke pats ke wgs, egs ad beasts wth the sk, sew adboe Uke chcke wgs, Chcke McNuggets ca be eate by tossgthem to oe's mouth as oe dives o to the ext atoay ad efcetyogazed actvty pehaps obtag moey fom the ATM).

The cedt cad s a hghy efcet method fo both obtag adgatg oas, as we as fo expedg oa fuds As poted out above,appcats eed do tte moe tha out a bef questoae, ad thecase of pe-appoved cedt cads eve that equemet s waved. Compaed to the tadtoa oa pocess, whch ca be see as the paae ofcookg fom scatch," ths method s ceay moe efcet fo both theoa agecy a the boowe. Most customes ae gate a e of cetwhch s accessed ad expeded qucky ad easy each tme the cad sused. Assumg a good cedt ecod, as the cedt mt s appoached t wbe ase, theeby ceasg the poteta tota oa amout.

The cedt cad teds to geaty ehace the efcecy of vtuay akds of shoppg. stead of cayg aoud age ad uwedy amoutsof cash, a oe eeds s a th pece of pastc No eed to pa fo puchasesby gog to the bak ad oadg up o cash No eed to cay aoudbudesome checkbooks ad the Ds eeded to get checks appoved. Thees o oge eve ay eed to cout. Wth the cedt cads, cosumes aeo oge equed to kow how to cout out the eeded amout of cuecy,o to be abe to check to see whethe the chage s coect. Oe ca buythgs wheeve ad wheeve oe wats as og as the tusty cad s sttg

oes waet.Cedt ad debt) cads ae aso moe efcet fom the mechat's pot

of vew Whe the aveage cash tasacto at, fo exampe, a supemaket sst fastest (630 secods), t s cosey foowed by cad paymet (2030




1 06 The Expansion of McDonaldization

secons) while a check ansacion lags fa behn (4590 secons) Whilei migh be a a slowe han cash a ca ansacion is fa moe efcenhan a cash ea becase i eqies ie fom he mechan excep he iniialeleconic ansmssion of he chage Cash howeve s as one spemakeeleconic bankng sevices execive poins o labo inensive Fom he

ime i eaves he csomes hans o he ime i his he bank cash may gehane six o eigh ffeen imes boh a he soe an a he bank level "(Chain Store Executie 1992 28) All of hese seps ae eliminae in achage (an ebi) ansacion making moe efcien o he mechan hanoing bsiness on a cash basis

While cas may be moe ecien han cash cei cas an ebi casae nqesionably moe efcien han checks as fa as he mechan isconcee In fac ebi cas can be hogh of as eeconic checks"Thei geae efciency sems fom he fac ha he amon of he bil is

immeiaely ece fom he csome's accon Eliminae wih bohcei an ebi cas ae bonce checks an all of he inefciences ancoss associae wh yng o collec on sch checks Fhemoe i isqicke o ge a ca ansacion appove han i is fo he csome o wiea check an have appove Tha s impoan o he mechan whowans o move csomes hogh he lines as qickly as possble " (ChainStore Executie 1 992 28) Ohe eleconic fns ansfes (EFTs) sch aspaying bills via compe o by phone pomise even geae efcienciessnce hey can be ize n he comfo of ones own home

e espe hei geae efcency in compaison o cash cei an ebicas have ni eceny aey been accepe in ha cene of efcency hefas-foo esaan The execive vice-pesien of Visa escibes hepobem n he fas foo aena we have aiionally ha nex o nopesence fo one eason spee In a bsiness whee fas is beaif heca ahoiaion an pchase pocess has been oo sow o make casaacive " (Piece 990 l Howeve we ae beginning o see gowhin he se of cas in hs aea The same Visa execive escibes a eceneffo o make he chagng of fas foo moe efcien

At te ont of ae te cad aed tog a te eade and mmedateycecked agant a otcad e I a cad good te amont of te cae atomatcay cedted to t en te atozaton aed on a vdeo ceen nfont of te cece

e ente oce ntantaneo no one call no mnt and gnateocede Conme get moe convenence and exty And eed-mndedmecant get a ayment ytem tat even fate tan ca Pece 1 990: A

The highly aionalze WalMa soes have eceny insalle new echnoogy ha makes he pocess by which ca ansacions ae appove almos

insananeos Accoing o a spokesman fo he company No oo longago csomes hesiae o se he cas becase i ook so oggone longo ge a ansacion pocesse (Som 1993 45) Sch hesiaion is clealya hing of he pas a WalMa an a many ohe hghly aionaize




1 08 The Expansion of McDonadiation

scrps an n a wi rang of sbscrps pnng on h nar of hnqiy o complan an h ircion akn by h consaion.

fo cri cars, popl ha o acally slow own, or n sopconsming aloghr, a las momnaily, whn cash on han o in hbank pp oo low or isappar aoghr. This npricabiy a h

iniial l was mirror a h social l by gnral sowowns inconsmpion ring rcssionary pros.Th ci car srs o fr h consmr, a las o som gr, from

h nprcabiliis associa wih cash ow an h absnc of cash onhan I n frs h consmr, a las for a m, from h absnc offns n chckng an n saings accons Orall, h cr car has asmoohing c on consmpion. W can prchas hings or ngag naios forms of nrainmn n hogh w ha no cash on han or inh bank. W ar now br abl o ao painfl" lll s whn w ar nabl

o paricpa in h conomy. Mos gnraly, h cri car n allowspopl o consm ring rcssionay prios Th aaiabiy of crcars ss o mak h wol of h pryors of goos an srics mopricabl by hlpng o nsr a mo say sram of csomrs rngba as w as goo ims

Non-Human for Human Technoogy

A ary of non-hman chnologs ha com o cont boh csomrsan mploys wihin h fas-foo rsaran sof-rink machins ha

sh hmss off whn h cps ar fll, frnch-fry machins ha bzzwhn h fis ar on an n aomaically l i h basks o of h oil,an soon obos rahr han ral hman bings ha sr csomrs Thschnologis conrol mploys, skl jobs an limaly rplac poplwih machns (s Chapr 5

Th cri car is islf a kn of non-hman chnology Mor imporanly, i has gin birh o a rang of chnologis ha inrn bwnbyr an slr an sr o consrain boh. Mos noabl hr is h ascompriz sysm ha cis" whhr or no o ahoriz a nw cr

ca Mor frqny, ha sysm rmins whhr or no o ahoriz agin prchas Shopkp an csomr may boh wan o consmma aa, b if h compr sysm says no (bcas, fo xampl, hconsmrs car is or is cri limi, hn hr s ikly o b no salSmarly, an mploy of a cri ca rm may wan o appro a sal, bis oah, an may n b prohibi, o o so if h compr incas hai shol b sappo Ths is par of a gnra rn whn raionalizsociis owar akng cision making away from popl (csomrs,shopkprs an cr car company mploys alik an png i in h

hans of nonhman chnologsWih h an of smar cars (cars wih mb compr chips hanabl hm o b s in many iffrn ways, h car islf will, in asns, b a nonhman chnology ha cs" whhr or no a sal is o




Credit Cards and Rationalization 09

b consmma. Emb in h cars compr chp wll b hings lkspning limis an h car islf may riggr h rjcion of a prchasha is ovr h limi

No only o aspcs of or cri car sociy ak cson makng awayfrom hman bings b ohr of is lmns limina popl aloghr.

Ths h smar car may com o limna many popl who opra acri car company s compr sysm. This is clars oay n h cas ofATM cars an h ATMs whch hav bn rplacing bank llrs. A bankvc-prsn s q plici abo h sbsion of non-hman forhman chnology in h growh of ATMs This migh son fnny b ifw can kp popl o of or branchs w on hav o hir saff o hanlpak-m booms an h lk. Tha rivs own coss . . AmericanBanker, 99 22a. A simlar pon can b ma abo bi cars whchnvolv a far lss labor innsv sysm han h banking organzaon ha

sans bhin h chcks ha hy ar sign o rplac Th growh ofbi cars has l o h loss of many bank posiions involv n h variossps in h clarng of a chck. Frhrmor snc cri cars ar sgno b s in plac of cash h ncrasing s of sch cars has l o hloss of posons nvolv in a cash conomy .g. bank llrs n ool o cash.

Th n sps in hs hisorcal procss nail h frhr vlopmn ofh socall informaion hghway" so ha popl wll no longr n olav hir homs in orr o conc nancial ransacions. Thy will b

abl o s hir ATM bi or cri cars o mak lcronc fnsransfrs hrogh hir lphons hom comprs an lvson scrnsPi skora an Klr 993 l A. Th rsl will b vn mor nonhmanchnology an vn lss conac wh ohr hman bngs.

A variy of prssrs hav forc h cr car nsry o prs vrhghr lvls of raionalizaion hrogh nw an mor sophisica nonhman chnologis. For ampl bcas boh consmr an shopkprwan qick ahorizaions of cr car sals his las o h n for vrmor sophisica comprs as wll as for compr programs o maksch ahorizaions possbl. Similarly h cri car compans hav asrong inrs in sing chargs nr spily ino a csomrs acconso ha h bills ar likly o b pa soonr or br y ha inrschargs can bgin accrng soonr on npai balancs

W can illsra hs by looking a Visas compr sysm Visanwhich srvs as h inrmiary bwn mrchan mrchans bank anh car-issng bank This s a hg nwork ncompassng n 9939 mllon mils of br-opc cabl ha links abo 0000 banks an ohrnancial insiions an 0 millon mrchans in 247 conris an rrioris worlwi" Los Angeles Times, 993: C). Ths sysm hanls an

avrag of 000 ransacions pr min Mos of hm go hrogh wospr cnrs" in Virginia an Englan as wll as 400 smallr Vsacomprs. From h swiping of h car hrogh h pon-of-sal rmnalo approval h nir procss orinarily aks bwn si an 20 scons.




1 1 The Expansion of McDonaldization

In his im, h sysm rmins whhr h car is soln, whhr hcri limi has bn xc, an whhr h prchas is an nsal onwhich migh inica ha h car s is nahoriz by h carholr

Similarly, h vlopmn of on-lin sysms lik Visa's In anMasrCar's Masro has prmi insananos ransfr of fns whn a

bi car is s Ths sysms ar m prfrabl o far lsssophisica offlin sysms ha ak a fw ays bfor a ransfr of fnsis compl

Anohr prssr pshing in h ircion of chnological avancmnan conrol is h n o ci qckly an corrcly whhr or no o givsomon cri an how mch cri o xn As iscss abov, hmovmn is away from laving his p o hman bings o ci onsbjciv bass an in h ircion of vloping h compriz criscoring sysms ha com p wih scors ha allow h compr o mak

hs cisions" In som cass h compr vn gnras h accpancor rjcion lr I is likly ha h nir procss is hanl wihoanyon looking a yor applicaion or l (Dwilr, 1993 5

Prhaps h mos visibl xampl, hogh, in h cri car bsinss ofaking conrol away from hmans is h movmn away from wha in hinsry is call conry-clb" billing an owar scripiv billing" Inconryclb billing, csomrs rciv wih hir monhly bills copis of hacal charg slips s for ach prchas Amrican xprss is oncompany ha conins o provi is csomrs wih sch copis (or

facsimils) This is an xpnsv nraking for cri car companis somos hav mov away from conry-clb billing an owar scripivbillng

In scripiv bill ing h consmr mrly gs a l is of h chargs, asan amons No copis of rcips ar sn Th problm wih scripivbilling is h loss of conrol by consmrs Wih copis of rcips,carholrs can clarly s whhr or no hy acally ma ach prchasAfr all, copis of h acal rcips conain hir ahorizing signarsWih only liss, on long liss, aach o h bill, consmrs ms rly on

mmory, or on hir own rcor kping, o vrify a prchas Popl ofnhrow p hir hans an assm h lis of chargs is corrc, hrbysrrnring conrol ovr his iss o h cri car companis an hircomprs

By h way, h consmr's n o kp rcors an o vrify long lissof bills is inicaiv of anohr characrisic of a raionalizing sociy (sChapr 5 pshing mor an mor work on o consmrs, who arcompll o o i on an npai basis In h cri car bsinss csomrsar rqir o kp h copis an chck hm agains h lis provi wih

hir monhly bill Anohr xampl involvs rrors in on's cri brarcors As Dwilr ps i:

Credors are o resonse or e accracy o er omaon. I a credor orcoleco eror reos wrog daa ao yo o e cred reas s yor




Credit Cards and Rationaliation 1 1 1

resonblt to catch the error, and then straghten t out The system s notuserfrendly: you hve to do ll the wor (Detweler 993 39 talcs added)

The Irrtionali of Rationali

Fnally, hee s the atonalty o aonaly, hch takes a vaety o

oms A one level , ths smply means ha hat s aonal n plannng doesno ok out ha ay n pactce Fo example, hle he dve-thoughndo n he asood esauant s supposed o be a vey ecent ay oobtanng a meal, oten ends up beng ue necen, h cusomesndng themselves on long lnes o cas nchng toad he takeoutndo Smlaly, cedt cads somemes end up beng ue necenTake he pogam undeaken by Dscove Cad to allo ts membes accessto Spnts long-dstance sevce To make a long-dstance call h the cad,all you need do s dal Spn s dgt access numbe Then Then aldg phone numbe Then he 1-dgt account numbe om youDscove Cad Then a ou-dgt Pesonal Access Code ConsumerReports, 1992 7) Tha tus ou to be a hghly necen 42 dgs that needo be eneed just o make one long-dstance call

To ake anothe example, he ced cad companes ae supposed touncon hghly pedctably Fo example, e should be able o expec hatou blls ll be eoee Hoeve, vaous ypes o bllng eos do ndhe ay no ou monthly staemens thee may be chages tha e dd nomake, o the amoun eneed may be ncoect

At anohe level, the most noable aonaly o aonaly n he ast

ood ndusy s the ceaon o a dehumanzed and dehumanzng settng nhch o ea o ok Such an nhuman old s aonal om he pon ove o he human bengs ho mus deal h t O couse, he ced cadold s also hghly dehumanzed snce t s one n hch people geneallyneac th non-human echnologes, he poducs such as blls o oveduenoces, o h people hose acons o decsons ae consaned nodetemned by non-human echnologes Hoo soes abound o peoplecaught up n he heavy machney" o he ced cad companes Pty he pooconsumes ho ae chaged o hngs hey ddn buy, o ae sent a sees o

compute letes h escalang theats because he compue eoneouslyconsdes hem to be delnuent n the payments Then thee ae he manycomplants o people ho ae tued don o cedt because eoneousnomaon has cep nto the cedt epots Tyng o get sasacton omhe echnologes, o the oen obot-lke epesentatves, s pehaps theulmae n he dehumanzaon assocaed th a atonalzng socey

Moe geneally, the atonalty o aonaly s a geneal label o hepoblems assocated th atonal sysems Fo example, cedt cad companes end o dscmnae agans mnotes and omen Women have

oten ound hemselves n a Catch22 suaon, unable to get cedt cadsbecause hey do not have a cedt hstoy snce he ced cads have beenn the husbands names Fullme homemakes oten nd t dcult o geced cads on he on because they lack an ndependen ncome Ced




1 1 4 The Expansion of McDonaldiation

obtained Overall something important but indenable is lost in a orld inhich the sole emphasis sometimes seems to be on speed and eciency.

A similar point can be made about the personal troubles associated ithpredictability Something vital about lie is lost hen all o the things econsume and the experiences e have are highly predictable. Lie becomes

routine dull boring. The excitement associated ith at least some unpredictabiliy a surprising discovery or an unexpected experience is lost.When people had to rely on cash on hand there ere likely to be periods osel-denial but hen the cash supply had been replenished there asexcitement in being able to aord some object or participate in someexperience. The tendency to reduce or eliminate such periods o sel-denialeliminates that excitement

A considerable amount o humanity is lost hen people are in the thrall olarge-scale systems such as the credit card industry and its computerized

systems Instead o being in control people are controlled by these systemsThis is ell illustrated by the sitch rom countryclub to descriptive billingin most o the credit card industry Similarly the technologies associatedith credit cards tend to reduce or eliminate human interaction They alsoeliminate jobs leaving many people ithout the income and meaning thatork accords.

Thus each o the major dimensions o the rationalization o the creditcard industry can be seen as causing personal troubles or individuals Manyo those troubles relate more generally to the irrationality o those rationalsystems especially their tendency toard dehumanization Many o thespecic personal troubles discussed in the last several paragraphs are part oand contribute to the process o dehumaniation In many ays our lives areless human because o the advances in the credit card industry and therationalization process o hich it is part When one adds all o the otherproblems caused by the expansion o the credit card industry to itsdehumaniing aspects it is clear that it is the cause o innumerable personaltroubles

What are the public issues associated ith credit cards At one level theaggregation o all o these personal troubles can be seen as a public issue

(Liska 1990) At another level the policies o the credit card industry thatcause these problems can also be vieed as a public issue Fundamentallythe industry is in the business o luring people into debt indeed into alietime o perpetual indebtedness The companies compete to come up ithgimmicks (no annual ees lo introductory interest rates ree gits) that illlead consumers into accepting yet another credit card. Those prized customers ho are unable to pay their debt in ull (and most all into this category)are charged usurious interest rates The policies o the credit card industryare (or should be) a public issue.

Hoever the broadest public issue is the threat o totalitarianism posedby the credit card industry in concert ith the other major elements o therationalizing society. Galanoy (1980) called such a totalitarian systemLiebank and sa it as the logical derivative o the credit card society.




Credit Card and Rationaliation

Gaanoy envisioned Liebank as a sysem in hich a o our asses i becombined ino one accoun This accoun i be conroed by one or morebanks or nancia insiuions and heir compuers A o our credi cardsi be repaced by a singe Liebank card. Viruay a consumpion i beon credi As our bis come due hey i be auomaicay deduced rom

our Liebank accoun We i be graned an aoance or day-o-dayexpenses There i as a resu be ie cash and ie need or i Checkingaccouns as e kno hem i have argey disappeared. Liebankscompuers i make viuay a o our economic decisions Our crediraings i be coninuay updaed. Our Liebank card i be he key oviruay everyhing and hose ihou such a card i no ony no haveany credi in a sociey ha depends on credi bu i ieray have ceasedo exis as ar as Liebank s compuers are conceed.

Whie e may some day see a cenraized eecronic unds ranser sysemike Liebank Gaanoy as rong in his predicions. For exampe heargued Liebank coud become a reaiy by 1985 perhaps sooner"(Gaanoy 1 980 20) As rie his over a decade aer i is cear haLiebank did no occur in 1985 and hie e may be someha coser eare si a ong ay rom such an a-encompassing sysem.

Gaanoy (980 13) may have been more accurae hen he roe o heerriying cerainy o an a-conroing sysem caed Liebank in ourieime." Bu even here his anaysis is marred by superheaed erms ikeerriying" Or ake he ooing saemen

We wll have ost control Even the banks wll have lost contro he ebanktye system wll have ts own reasonng ts own standards ts own momentumts own energy ts own le and oeratng wthout conscence wthout souwthout socal ogc t w aso be out o control by all standards we should stllve by today Galanoy, 90 )

Whie such a sysem has ye o come ino exisence many deveopmens andechnoogica advances (eg smar cad have made somehing ke Liebank possibe oday and coninued echnoogica advances make i an evengreaer ikeihood in he uure.

Liebank resembes he iron cage o raionaiy" ha ay a he base o

Webers conce ih he raionaizaion process Weber eared ha heord as moving oard a seamess eb o raiona sysems ha oudconro more and more aspecs o our ives. Furhermore e oud be essand ess abe o escape rom he raiona sociey uni evenuay e oudbe e ih ie more han he abiiy o choose among raiona sysems.

The credi card indusry has become highy raionaized and has aken ispace as a key eemen o our raiona sociey Wha is paricuary disurbingabou he roe o he credi card indusry is ha i invoves means raher hanends The resu is ha i is one o he preerred means o a ide array o

raionaized ends.

As a means i conribues o he urher raionaizaion ohe ends o hich i provides access. Furhermore credi cards seen as meameans conribue o he raionaizaion o various means (or exampe in heream o consumpion shopping and cybermas). In hese ays he credi




1 1 Th Expansion of McDonadization

card is playing a distinctive and unusualy poerul role in the emergenceand solidication o the iron cage o rationalization That is the centralpubic issue as ar as credit cards are conceed and it is one that subsumesthe ide range o more specic issues discussed in this chapter that shoudbe o great public conce.

Ntes

Tis is revised versin f Cpter 6 f Epssing Ameca (Ritzer 1995

r dscssn f Chaace and Socal Sucue in it f n intertive tereticlperspective see Ritzer ( 1 98 1 1 938)

2 Tere re, f crse, differences s well Fr exmple, te fstfd restrnts remretin endprdcts wile te credit crd rms re psin mens t tt end, nd mnyter ends, s well

3 Pesnl cmmnictin frm Gei Detweiler, frmer exective directr f BncdHders f Americ

4 Fr discssin f te dvntes f te fstfd restrnt, see Ritzer ( I 9961 1 1 3 .

5 Hwever it sld be pinted t tt credit crds cn ls prvide ccess t nnrtinlized ends fr exmpe, nefind ntiqe r trp rnd te wrd n neswn) n tt sense tey cn elp t liberte pepe frm rtinliztin, t lest ntil te billscme de I wld lie t tn Men S ee fr min tis pint.




1 1 The Ne Means of Consumption

chronology s tsel perectly modern') but the vew that one can analyseany soca phenomena rom the pont o vew o both mode and postmode theory

In act t may be ar more useul to regard modesm and postmodesm not as epochs that ollow one another but as derent modes o

analyss (Lyotard 191992 24). In anaysng socal phenomena alternately rom a mode and then a postmode perspectve one would beollowng the logc employed by Wensten and Wensten ( 1993 : 2 1 ) nther postmode analyss o Smmel:

o or mnds "modernsm and ostmodernsm are not excsve alteatvesbt dscrsve domans borderng each oher . We cod be workng themodernst sde of the border (as we have n the ast f we ddnt thnk that theostmodernst sde contaned more resorces for mang resent cltre

The attracton o postmodesm s that t oers new and derent resources

to look at these phenomena One s ute sae n dong ths knd o analysssnce the postmodernsts themselves have tended to look at phenomena lkethe astood restaurant through the lens o postmodesm Take orexample the olowng descrpton o postmodesm by Lyotard:

Eclectcsm . of contemorary general cltre one stens to reggae watches aweste eats McDonld food for lnch and loca csne for dnner wears Parserfme n okyo and retro clothes n Hong Kong knowedge s a matter forV games (Lyotard 979 984 76 talcs added)

I (and many others) tend to look at the new means o consumpton n avery materal (Marxan) sense but most postmodernsts (and poststructuralsts) ocus ar more on nonmateral sgns assocated wth such phenomenaand ther place n the smlarly nonmateral code However these twoapproaches are not mutually exclusve and we wl have many thngs to sayabout sgns and the code n the context o a dscusson o these means oconsumpton

Pstmdern Scety as a Cnsumer Sciety

The place to begn a postmodern analyss o these means o consumpton s

wth the vew that postmode socety s a consumer socety (Featherstone1991 ) ndeed one oten sees the terms used synonymously Baudrlards( 96/1 9 1 971 9) eary work ocused on consumer socety and morerecently Bauman ( 1992) has vewed postmodety n these terms Captast socety has undergone a sht n ocus rom producton to consumptonn the early days o ther economc system captalsts concentrated amostexclusvely on controng producton n general and producton workers npartcular As actores have moved out o advanced captalst natons thosenatons have moved toward controllng consumpton n general especally

the thoughts and actons o consumers (Gabre and Lang 1995) Whleproducng more and cheaper goods remans mportant attenton s ncreasngly beng devoted to gettng people to consume more and a greater varetyo thngs




Postmode nalysis 9

In the realm o consumption the ocus o thinking and research is usuallyon marketing and advertising (Een 97, 1988 Een and Een 1982oles 99). While these are certainly signicant hat I ant to examineare the ne means o consumption as social structures that constrain bothpeople and signs (and as producers sponsors and so on o signs). In doing

so I am olloing Baudrillard (970988) ho discussed such means oconsumption in some o his early ork. He looked at the distinctivelyrench drugstore as such a (then) ne means but closer to my area ointerest he also discussed the shopping mall

The ne means o consumption are ust that means to allo people toconsume. Just as the means o production are necessary to, and acilitateproduction means o consumption perorm the same roles in the sphere oconsumption All ne means o consumption are increasingly necessary toand acilitate consumption. This helps us to see that there are important

analogies beteen orkers and consumers In act as discussed earlierconsumers no ork" in conjunction ith these ne means o consumption and to the constant joy o capitalists (and their prot margins) theyperorm that ork ithout compensation.

On the surace means o consumption and their unctions seem benignenough even uite positive (acilitating consumption or example) Butlooked at more deeply and more critically they are means to gently and notso gently lead consumers to consume in ays that are most advantageousand most protable to manuacturers and sellers. This means that at leastsome o the time they act to the detriment o consumers or example

• astood restaurants lead people to eat oods that are detrimental to theirhealth because they are high in cholesterol sugar salt and otheradditives

• Credit cards induce people to spend more than they should and beyondtheir available capital

• Shopping malls (Koinski 1985) entice people into buying things theyoten do not need.

• TV shopping netorks and cybermalls permit people to shop 24 hours a

day seven days a eek thereby increasing the likelihood that they illspend more than they should buy things that they should not.• Catalogues allo people to purchase products rom anyhere in the

orld; people may be induced into buying unneeded products.• Casinos lead people to gamble more and lose more money than they can

aord.

While these and other ne means o consumption enable people to do thingsthey could not do beore they also constrain them to buy more than theyneed; to spend more than they should (Giddens, 1984).

I ill not dell on the ell-knon ays in hich people are enabled toobtain more and dierent goods and services. My ocus is on the verymaterial constraints that these ne means place on people to consume goodsand services that they oten do not need or even ant O course consumers




1 20 The New Means of Consumption

aays possess the capacity to reuse to use the ne means o consumptionor to resist consuming hen they nd themselves in contact ith them (seeChapter 1 3) Hoever these means are structured in such a ay that peopleare ured into them and once in them they nd it extremey dicut not toconsume. Many people nd it hard to resist tuing on Home Shopping

etork (HS) going to the mall or to a gambing casino hen in LasVegas Atlantic City or Monaco Once one is atching HS it is dicult togo very long ithout picking up that phone and becoming a participant.Simiarly one could go to the mall and not shop but it is hard to do. In anycase hat's the point o going to the mal i its not to shop The sameapplies to casinos. One coud go and ust atch but more likely one'sinhibitions il be overcome and one il l become a player (and most likelya loser)

Malls are physically constructed so that one is led past one alluring shop

ater another. Windo displays sgns advertising sales and perhaps goodsplaced in bins outside the store attract the consumer's attention. Many mallshave aso added small kiosks and pushcarts in the middle o aisles to oeryet more attractions One can pass all o these by but the longer one is in themall the harder it gets A similar point could be made about hotel-casinos.The sights and sounds o the casino assaut one on entering the hotel. It ispossible to stay at the hotel and not gambe but the lure o the casino is toogreat or most people. Once in the casino one alks past a ide range omachines and games all beckoning ith lights ashing and bells ringing (to

say nothing o the promise o vast riches) to the potential gambler. Onecoud resist a o these allures ust as one could resist all the mall shops butboth are structured to make tat etemely dcult to do n any case the dehas been cast once one enters a mall or a casino (or the ast-ood restaurantor cruise ship); these are not paces set up to attract people ho are onlyinterested in indo shopping or atching others gamble

The act is that capitaists need customers to spend more than they shoudand oten more than they can aord on consumption in order to keep theeconomy operating at a high and ever-increasing level Thus capitalism is amajor orce in the invention o these ne means o consumption. Fur

thermore capitalists need to keep on having them invented so that it cancontinue to be the kind o economic system (characterized by everincreasing prots stock prices and ealth) e kno More attention seemsto be devoted these days to inventing ne means o consumption than to themore traditional course o creating ne means o production I postmodesociety is consumer society at least in pat then these ne means oconsumption are key elements o the postmode orld.

An enormous amount o money is spent on advertising the glories o thevarious ne means o consumpton and this reects the groing need or

consumption in mode capitalsm. While e usually associate labor ithproduction Baudriard has made it clear that consumption has become akind o labor. As e sa earlier (especialy in Chapter 5) e perorm avariety o ork-ike tasks as consumers in astood restaurants. Similarly




A Postmode Analysis 1 2 1

e ok duing ou teks to shopping alls, supeakets, and even LasVegas casinos All o this i s ok and capialis ust keep us at it in odeto keep expanding and to pevent the consuing asses o thinking aboutanything eotely esebling citicis, let alone evolution Capitaliswants to keep us at it because instead o paying okes, people ae il ling,even eage, to pay o he pivilege o oking as consues Without eveinceasing consueis, capitalis ould collapse, o a least be tansoed daatically To take jus one exaple, hat ould happen to oueconoy i people had to pay thei cedit cad balances in ull each onth,i they ee no longe peitted to evolve thei accounts? Hundeds obillions o dollas o puchases ould siply not be ade and the econoyould sue accodingly As a esult o the necessity o eve-inceasingconsuption, the ocus o capitalis has shited o exploiting okes toexploiting consues

The ne eans o consuption also lead to the polieation o goods andsevices. Bauan (1992) ecognizes this and elaes it to Siels 1 907/1 978 ; edelann, 1 991 ) tagedy o cultue The tagedy is that oucapacities do no develop ast o a enough to allo us o deal ith theenoous pousion o coodities available to us n addition to theexpected goods and sevices, in he postode old vitually evey aspecto cultue (at, usic, and so on) is o sale n ac, e have ecently seenthe developent o so-called useu and acheology chains designedto sell a vaiety o siulated atiacts Such cultual poducts add eno

ously to the coodities o be sold in he consue sociey n otheods e coe to be oveheled by objects o consuption, to saynothing o the vast aay o eans in existence to allo us to obtain thesegoods and sevices Let us tu to a oe geneal postode analysis othese phenoena

A Pstmdern Analysis

The ne eans o consuption ae chaacteized, and to a vey high degee,

by siulaca (Baudillad, 1983) o exaple, instead o eal huaninteaction ith seves in ast-ood estauants, ith cleks in shoppingalls and supestoes o ih teleaketes, e can think o these assiulated inteactions Eployees ollo scipts, and custoes counteith ecipied (Schutz, 19321 97) esponses, ith the esult that no authentic inteaction eve takes place So any o ou inteactions in thesesettings (and out) ae siulated, and e becoe so accustoed to the, thatin the end all e have ae siulated inteactions; thee ae no oe ealinteacions. The entie distinction beteen the siulated and the eal is lostsiulated inteaction is the eality.

The sae point applies to objects associated ith the ne eans oconsuption Any given cedit cad is a siulation o all othe cads o thesae band; thee as no oiginal cad o hich all othes ae copied;thee is no eal cedit cad Futheoe, cedit cads can be seen as




Postmode nalysis 1 23

course as already a smulaon The hole ese amosphere creaedby he chan and s commercals has much more o do h he moves(smulaons) han does h he real" old es (haever ha as)

Anoher example ha comes o mnd s he Arhur Treacher" chan oresaurans hch s a smulaed old Englsh sh and chps shop (haever

ha may be) For hose o you oo young o remember Arhur Treacher asa Brsh acor ho as mos assocaed h buler roles n he moves Thssmulaed Brsh buler s he symbol o hs chan o smulaed sh andchps shop A smlar pon could be made abou he conal Long JohnSlver (knon bes o he publc rom he move (e smulaed) verson oTreasure Island raher han he orgnal book) chan o seaood resauransas ell as many oher smulaed puveyors o smulacra By he ay heseexamples reec he mporance ha he meda (moves TV) play n heposmode orld In he above nsances hey are aecng us ndrecly

bu hey also have a more drec mpac on us ha has been he conce omany posmodessAs smulaed orlds sellng smulaed producs he ne means o

consumpon n general and he shoppng mall n parcular have ahypereal ualy o hem; hey seem more real han rea A ypcal mall scold and serle s no ue o hs orld s no ue real or raher s a lle b more real han real" shoppng plazas n large ces or smallons The malls are oudone by he heme parks (alhough malls are as ehave seen comng o look more and more lke heme parks) such as Dsney

World n hch Dsney producs are sold n a orld hch seems more realhan realy The same sor o hng can be sad abou Las Vegas casnos andcruse shps hch creae a hyperreal orld n order o separae us rom ourmoney hou he need o gve us any goods a all n reu The producspurveyed n glossy caalogues (eg he lngere markeed n he Vcora'sSecre caalogue o say nohng ohe omen ho model he underear andnghes) and on he home-shoppng neorks are made o appear ar morereal han hey ll be hen hey nd her ay no our homes and on o ourbacks Obvously even more hyperreal are he ne cybermalls Can e bear rom vrual shoppng" We already have vrual sex or eledldoncs"nvolvng a combnaon o compuer programs and body sus ha allo heransmsson o sensory normaon o he earer (Edelman 99)

Baudrllard ( 198/ 989) descrbes Amerca as a dry and emoonlessdeser and s no surprsng ha as-ood resaurans perhaps heunessenal Amercan produc are smlarly deser-lke Lackng n dephand emoon every as-ood resauran seems lke every oher Ulmaelyhe enre erran seems lke some vas deser n hch s dcul oderenae one supercal landmark rom anoher Each asood resauran seems lke one more meanngless oupos n he deser People are

dashng rom one o anoher bu here s nohng sgncan abou any o heouposs or n he monoonous process o ravellng beeen hem Peopleseem o come rom nohere and o head o nohere (Much o ha s sadn hs paragraph descrbes he shoppng mall eually ell I s an even




1 24 The New Means of Consumtion

better description o Las Vegas casinos hich not onl create such anenvironment but are o course in the desert) And America is rapidlexporting this mode o consumpton to much o the rest o the orld hicheagerly aaits it or at east the seemingly desirable signs that go ith itFrom Baudrillards perspectve the rest o the orld is rushing headlong in

the direction o creatng a similar consumer and ultimatel social desertWhile the are characterized b this at desert-like uality there is as

ameson ( 1984 1991 points out a peculiar kind o euphoria (intenst")associated ith these postmode settings. There is or example the senseas one arrives at the astood restaurant that one is in or excitement or atleast some un. Indeed hat ast-ood restaurants really sell is not ood buta (simulated) kind o un (Luxenberg 1985) . et the ood is o the mostprosac type one can imagine What could be less exciting to most Amercans than eating et another ast-ood hamburger chicken ing or pizza

slice et e seem to be ooled (or to ool ourselves) continuall b theperipherals nto beleving that e are n or some un hen e pass throughthe portals

This excitement pales in comparison to the intensit o eeling on the parto the consumers ho enter et another shopping mall ith credit card at theread Malls promise and seem to deliver on excitement especiall thoselike the Mall o America in Minneapolis ith its amusement park. ust asast-ood restaurants are not really peddling ood malls are not really sellinggoods or at least the are not selling themselves on the basis o the goods

the have to oer since those same goods can be purchased almostanhere else What the are pedding is their version o an enchantedenvironment in hich to u thoe goo An an eho in come thecustomers and hat do the have at the read The credit card; the ke tothe kingdom! What could be more excitng Here e are in a magcal orldand eve got the golden ke that ill unlock ever door Better et andeven more magical it appears as i its al ree! Merchants gladl take ourplastic e sign our names and o e go ith as man goods as e cancarr (and as our credit limits ill allo) O course e kno that a doner(the credt card bill) aaits us don the road but ho cares Were toohappy to orr about such uture conseuences. Even i e max" out onone card some other bank il admire our proigacy and give us another.We might even be able to take a cash advance on the ne card in order tomake a mnimal pament on an overdue bill rom the old card (All o thispales in comparison to the intensit o eeling associated th touristdestinations ike casnos cruise ships resort hotels Club Meds amusementparks and the rest see Chapter 1 )

Related to the dea o ntensities s the sense that Bauman (1992) andothers (Debord 1977) conve that postmode systems are intent on oering

spectaces" Examples incude the garishness o astood restaurants andtheir amusement-park ualities such as plagrounds or children the modemalls that are more entertanment complexes as ell as the amusement parksthemselves Cruise ships casinos hotels even supermarkets seek to present




Postmode nalysis 1 25

themseves as spectaces so that they can ect that ntensty that s otherwsemade so dcut to experence by the unemotona and aectess charactero most postmode systems.

Then there s the ragmented character o e assocated wth the newmeans o consumpton. Tacos today, burgers yesterday and pa tomorow

add up to dscontnuty. Credt cards are perhaps the utmate means to aragmented and dscontnuous e. Lmted ony by the number o cards nour possesson and ther coectve credt mt, we can be anywhere wewant, buy anythng we wsh. We can spend a tte tme here, and a bt moretme there, and we can put t a on the card. We can buy a new ea bowertoday, sks tomorrow, and swmsuts the next day. The ony contnuty s theconstant spendng and the act that that nevtabe reckonng w beappearng n our maboxes. The package tour s another wonderu exampeo ths as vacatoners whr through a seres o stes oten so qucky that

they hardy know where they are, et aone the sgncance o what they areseeng

Baudrard (1983/990) descrbes much o ths experence as ecstasyEach and every ast-ood restaurant can be seen as but one o a seres oempty orms whch endessy derentate themseves rom one anothereven though they are a essentay ake). They are constanty renventngthe same products other empty orms) over and over agan, wth ony sghtvaratons Fast-ood restaurants and ther products are hypertec, that s,ncreasng at astronomca rates wthout any reason save new or greater

sources o prot) or ther ncrease there s an ecstasy assocated wth thspure movement Baudrard, 1 983/ 990) Invoved n ths s a knd o emptynaton As a resut, we nd ourseves asea n an ecstatc system n whchast-ood restaurants or shoppng mas, supermarkets, superstores) andther endessy derent, yet surprsngy smar, products whr about us.The massve proeraton and derentaton o sgns utmatey end upbeng an ncoherent bur. We are ost n a word o reentess and meanngess, expanson Customers, ast-ood restaurants, ther products and theresutng sgns are a mady and meanngessy spnnng about n ths

hyperrea word. There s too much meanng we actuay know the meanngo Chcken McNuggets" and Egg McMun), much o t superuous dowe eay need to know the derence between a Whopper and a Bg Mac?).We are et wth a eeng o vertgnousness. Thngs n the word o astood go round and round at a dyng pace, but there s no essentameanng to the process

As sgncant and hghy vsbe sponsors, the astood restaurants pay akey roe n the proeraton o sgns by the meda, perhaps the man sourceo sgn overoad n contemporary socety Through the meda, the astoodrestaurants not ony bombard us wth a o ther own sgns, by thersponsorshp they hep support a meda system that produces a dayavaanche o sgns In so dong, they contrbute to the percepton thateverythng s avaabe or communcaton, sgncaton, banaaton, commercaaton and consumpton.




1 2 The ew Means of Consumption

O couse all o this is much moe tue o cedit cads and the wold oshopping it has helped spawn communication signication banaliationcommecialiation and consumption ae all vey apt tems to descibe thatwold (McAlliste 199) As means to means cedit cads have contibutedto the hypetelic expansion o all o the othe means o consumption.

Shopping malls casinos cuise ships package tous and the like haveexploded because at least in pat cedit cads have pemitted people to usethem moe quickly and easily and moe impotantly (at least sociologically)they have pemitted people to spend a beyond thei cash on hand. Aninteesting case in point is the coming gowth in cybemalls. At the momentthe use o cybemalls is limited by the act that thee ae questions about theeliability o the means to potect peoples cedit cad numbes when theyae used to chage things ove the Inteet. Howeve the majo cedit cadcompanies have pomised that they will soon have the capacity to oe such

potection Once people eel sae in using thei cedit cad numbes on theInteet we can expect to see a hypetelic polieation o such mallsthe businesses that paticipate in them the goods sold though them and theconsumes who buy though them

Thee is a new type o technology associated with postmode society andthe new means o consumption. Instead o poductive technologies like theautomobile assembly line that ae associated with modeism we havethe dominance o poductive technologies especially electonic media likethe television set and the compute. Rathe than the exciting explosive

technology o the industial evolution we have attening implosivetechnologies. The technologies o the postmoden ea give bith to veydieent cultual poducts and a vey dieent way o lie than theexpanding technologies o the mode ea

All o the new means o consumption can be seen as implosive: they aenot technologies that poduce anything new (at least diectly). Rathe theybette pemit us to get what is aleady in existence and that entepeneuswant us to puchase. n the vast aay o astood estauants the ange ooods available to us implodes into a black hole o had-to-dieentiate

salty-sweet oods Subtlety o taste is not the stong suit o ast-oodestauants Similaly in the mad ace to acquie as many goods as we canwith ou cedit cads th poducts implode into a mass o lagely indistinguishable stu. Stu that we don' t eally want don' t need and will likelyeplace as soon as ou cedit cad limits will allow Again thee is noexplosive poduction o goods with cedit cads but an implosive consumption o waes. 10 Much the same can be said about vitually all i not all othe new means o consumption.

While they may be implosive technologies they ae undegoing explosive

gowth that is thee is enomous expansion o all o the new means oconsumption in postmode society One could say ollowing Baudillad( 1 983/ 990) that like cance they ae metastasiing thoughout Ameicansociety and aound the est o the wold.




A Postmode Analysis 27

To some post mode socal theosts especally ameson 984 99) ,the multnatonal captalstc system s a key element o the postmodewold In act t can be seen as lyng at the base o the development andexpanson o all o the new means o consumpton. Wth hs ocus on theeconomy ameson unlke many othe postmodests does not accod

cental mpotance to technologes but sees them as a means by whch wecan begn to gasp the postmode captalstc woldThe cedt cad ts well nto ths aspect o ameson's appoach: t s a

cental aspect o contempoay captalst socety. Much lke the Teasuycedt cads ceate money O couse Vsa doesn't actually pnt cuencybut t does mpnt cedt cads wth vayng lmts Wth these cads peoplecan spend all the cuency n the possesson pnted by the Teasuy andthen they can spend the addtonal money" avalable n the collectve cedtlmts o the cads Ths addtonal money has been ceated by the cedt

cad companes not the Teasuy) and t allows captalsm to opeate at a ahghe level than t could t was lmted to extactng all o the consume'savalable cash

Most o the othe new means o consumpton assst the captalst systemTake the example o mega-stoes lke Pce Club The whole dea behndthese stoes s to get people to buy thngs they do not need and n a lagequanttes than they odnaly would sometmes n lage quanttes thanthey coud eve use Multples o a gven tem ae packaged togethe so thatnstead o one seveal must be puchased. Smlaly enomous contanesjas bottles and so on ae used so that people buy a lage quanttes.People go to outlets lke Pce Club to save money Whle the unt pces aeodnaly lowe people oten end up spendng moe money than theyothewse would Gong to Pce Club s a sgn that one s a wse shoppebut that sgn conceals the act that one s buyng and spendng moe than onewould n othe settngs

oday cedt cad ms and most o the othe new means o consumpton) ae concentatng on nteatonal expanson. Ths wll mean geatepots o them. It wll also allow moe and moe people aound the wold todo what Amecans ae dong spend a beyond the avalable cash

esouces. Consumng moe lke Amecans they wll nevtably consumemoe Amecan goods as well as the goods o othe captalst natons. Theesult wll be a moe actve captalst system and geate pots to thecaptalst ms

ameson s an atypcal postmodest n vewng postmodesm ascontnuous wth captalsm and theeoe modety In contast o example Baudllad 976/993 983) sees us as havng moved om thendustal ea n whch thee s seal poducton o smulaca by thendustal system to an ea n whch the code pedomnates and n whch

smulaca ae epoduced by the code The ea o the code bngs wth t apossblty o contol that a exceeds that o the ndustalcaptalst systemFuthemoe whle the ndustalcaptalst ea s maked by poducton theea o the code s one o epoducton see p. 26)





Th nw mans o consumpton poduc th sam sttngs and poductsov and ov and mo gnally thy poduc th cod and th systm.Fo xampl wh th ast-ood stauant xts contol though momod ndustalcaptalst mchansms and contbuts to captalstc xpanson t s also a sgncant contbuto to and pat o th cod and t s

though that cod that t also mansts contol. W can ollowng Baudllad (198/1988) thnk o th cod as a cod o sgncaton" that sth cod s a st o sgns that xts contol ov popl In th postmodwold objcts and commodts a sgns n usng o consumng thm wa usng o consumng sgns. Thus n usng o consumng ast-oodstauants and th poducts w a makng statmnts about ouslvs. Ocous thos statmnts a contold and kpt n a naow ang by thcod. It s much k th nda to whch Baudllad (1983) dvots somuch attnton. In a ndum ou ostnsbly chocs a dnd o

us n advanc ou chocs a tghtly constand. Smlaly ouostnsbly choc o ood s constand by th act that astoodstauants a dvng th altatvs out o busnss Th dncs thyappa to o tu out to b at bst supcal. Followng Baudllad'snoton o th ndum whn w vot" on whch ast ood to at n agvn day that choc can hadly b dmd to b a on

Th ast-ood stauant and th oth nw mans o consumptonconstan us lmt ou chocs n many oth ways Thus as th vaous astood stauants dv local cas and dns out o busnss 1 ou choc s

pogssvly ducd to whch chan w a gong to patonz on a gvnday. Lt m us on nw mans o consumpton to uth llustat thspont Wal Mat a dscount dpatmnt sto ocusn at ast tally onsmal towns schwd by oth lag tals. Typcally whn a Wal Matavs n a small town t dvs out many o th comptng downtown"busnsss. In a sns t bcoms vtually th only gam n town. Whnpopl choos to shop at Wa Mat s bcaus n many nstancs t hashlpd cat a stuaton n whch th a w any altatvs to t.

amson 99 1 ) agus that ths postmod sttngs xmply hypspac also chaactstc o mutnatonal captalsm) wh mod concp

tons o spac a uslss n hlpng us to ont ousvs. Whl thntos o astood stauants do not hav ths chaactstc th typcalstp" on whch a vast aay o as-ood stauants and oth McDonaldzd systms s ound dos. It s dcut to gt ons bangs whn on sadt n such a smngy ndss sa o dst). Th stps a chaactzd by thngs Jamson assocats wth postmodnsm an xstntalmssnss" and th lng o a bad tp" amson 199 1 17) . Evn bttxampls o hypspac a to b ound n mod hotls s amson sdscusson o th Hot Bonavntu n Los Angls o xampl) and

shoppng malls spcally th mga-mals Las Vgas as wll as many oth nomous nw casnos MGM Gand o xamp) s also chaactzdby hypspac. Th nw and ncasngly hug cus shps woud hav thsl as wll Fox and Radn 199)




A Postmode Analysis 1 29

n addition to material constraints and characteristics and o ar greaterimportance to most postmodeists is the act that the new means oconsumption are busy abricating and manipulating signs and it is thosesigns that are controlling our behavior For example astood restaurantsclearly signiy ast To the degree that the sign ast has become part o

the code we are led in the direction o doing many things not ust eatingquickly and eciently conversely we are led away rom slow cumbersomeprocesses in most i not all settings Concretely this means that we will bedrawn to ast-ood restaurants and away rom traditional restaurants where itmight take an hour or two to dine

Another sign associated with ast-ood restaurants is un Again withun ood part o the contemporary code we are going to gravitate toward theastood restaurants and away rom the oldashioned restaurants thatoer only good ood in staid surroundings More generally we are led to

look or un in most i not all other means o consumption In NeilPostman's 98) terms we are intent on amusing ourselves to deathThus one o the cruise lines is the Caial line we are not ust getting acruise but a caival and what could be more un than that? Today s LasVegas seems at least on the surace to be more about un than gambling. Atthe minimum there is more and more un available to some amily memberswhile others are reed to devote their time and money to gambling

The code and the act that we all implicitly understand it enables us tounderstand what people are saying about themselves when they utilize one

o the new means o consumption In eating in one ast-ood chain ratherthan another or in eating one type o ood rather than another we aresaying at least implicitly that we are like some people and dierent romothers Bourdieu 1984b) In other words our eating habits constitute a textthat it is possible to read Reading McDonald's might involve such thingsas understanding what some people are saying when they consume valuemeals and what others are saying by eschewing such meals . Those who areregulars at Taco Bell are telling us something about themselves and howthey dier rom those who are habitus o Burger King Kentucky FriedChicken or Popeye's. Those who eschew McDonald's or higher-statusMcDonaldized chains like Red Lobster are communicating a message andthat message is even stronger rom those who avoid all ast-ood restaurantso any type and requent only traditional up-scale restaurants where mealsare cooked rom scratch with ne ingredients by culinary experts Because itis all coded there is no end to our ability to read the signs associated withpeople s eating habits

There are also the signs associated with dierent credit cards Use oAmerican Express Diners Club and Carte Blanche communicates that one iso higher status than those who use the more prosaic and widely available

Visa and MasterCard Using a gold or platinum card rather than one o thebasic cards and colors) communicates the same message There are evenreports o a mysterious black American Express card or really big spendersLewis 199 ) Then there is the need to read the signicance o using cash





rather than a credt card. A ch person usng cash may be sayng one thngwhle a poor person who pays n cash s sayng somethng qute derentOne can read credt card use or ts absence) ust as one can read ast-oodpreerences; ndeed utlaton o all o the new means o consumpton scoded and thereore can be and s read.

From the perspectve o sgns and the code eatng shoppng andvacatonng have lttle or nothng to do wth needs as they are conceptualzed conventonally. We do not eat n astood restaurants becausewe need to eat there as opposed or example to at home). More to thepont we do not eat Chcken McNuggets as opposed to any other ood)because we need them and only them The desre to eat ChckenMcNuggets has been manuactured lke all other needs by the code and theeconomc system) The human race survved qute ncely or the eon beorethe Chcken McNugget was nvented We do not eat what we need but

what the code tells us we should eat; the code produces our needs theycan stll be called needs when they are manuactured exteally) In generalwe eat to express our smlartes and derences wth other humans and notto satsy our need or ood and more generally to survve When we eat aBg Mac we may thnk that we are consumng a glored hamburger but nact we are eatng an object-sgn In eatng that object-sgn and not others weare expressng much about our poston wthn the system.

One tangental pont worth mentonng brey relates to the ocus opostmodernsts and poststructuralsts) on expressng derences n the sgns

we consume Whle there s certanly much truth n ths t s aso the casethat we use sgns to express our commonaltes wth others. The consumpon o sgns assocated wth astood restaurants s clearly much more anexpresson o commonalty than derence Indeed wth the masscaton osgns people are beng led n the drecton o needng to expess ar morecommonalty and ar less derence n sgn consumpton There wll alwaysbe sgns o derence but they are now dwared by sgns o commonalty McDonalds golden arches and Nkes swoosh logo.

Many o the same knds o thngs sad about astood restaurants can be

sad about the other means o consumpton When we whp out our credtcards at the mall we are sayng among other thngs that we are players nthe postmode economy. A smlar sgn s communcated when we take acruse or gamble n a Vegas casno many cruse shps oer casnos) Herewe are demonstratng that we are not merely players but hgh rollerswhen o course most o us are not and wll need to spend months or yearspayng o the trp and/or the gamblng debt) but there are also tmes whenwe demonstrate that we are knowledgeable and cautous consumers. A trpto Prce Club mght be desgned although not conscously) to demonstrate

that act even though we oten spend more money and buy more goods thanwe ntended or should have Then there s makng a purchase va acybermall whch s a sgn that we are among the most progressve oconsumers utlzng the latest technologcal advances




A Postmode Analysis 3 1

In the preceding pages we have been dealing n the main with a stage inwhch the code s domnant but Baudrllard (990/993) has recently addeda later ractal stage. Here we are talking about endless prolieration the endo dierence the interpenetraton o everythng All negativity has beeneliminated and all we are let wth is a vacuous positivity: the Hell o the

same Fast-ood restaurants shopping malls Las Vegas casnos cruiseships TV shopping networks are all charactered by ther eorts to removeall negativity to create at least the illusion o total postivity Whle manyother thngs could be discussed under the headng o the ractal orderperhaps the most mportant relates to the end o derences For examplewhile there are many dierent knds o ast ood they al l end up being prettymuch the same a vast black hole o ast ood.

An even better and broader example s the eroson o the distinctionbetween shopping and non-shopping areas More and more places are taking

on the characterstcs o a shoppng mall We have already discussed howthis s happening to amusement parks Then there are college student unionsairport and tran terminals and the like which are also looking increasinglylke shoppng malls. Wth the arrval o TV home shoppng networks ourlvng rooms and dens have become outposts o the malls. Soon our studiesand oces will be extensions o the cybermalls. There used to be manyareas where one could escape rom be ree o shopping Those areas arebeing drastically reduced as more and more o them become malls or atleast extensions o them Following Baudrillard we could say we are n theera o transconsumersm

At one level most o this section has been devoted to a discussion o thenew means o consumption rom the perspectve o postmode socialtheory. At another level there is a great deal o perhaps even a pervasivecritique o those means o consumpton and o the postmode world owhich they are part This rases several issues For example as they dopostmodeists see no hope o ever nding the truth how can they becritical o thngs like these means o consumption? Followng ameson wecan respond that the inablity to dscover truth does not nhibit the critique othat which is alse. Thus much o the critque o the means o consumption

can be categoried under the headng o the crtque o the alseness eg.simulacra) associated with them.

However this begs the question at least n part Wthout a undamentalsense o what is true wthout such an Archmedean point how do wedetermne what s or is not alse? This s a serious perhaps even a atalproblem or postmode social theory especally i we accept the postmode argument that the real is disappearing or has already disappeared ina sea o simuacra I all we have are smulations what basis do we have tocrtique some rather than others?

Even i we are willng to concede the obviously hghly dubous pont thatpostmodests might be able to crtique that which is alse they cannotollowing Bauman (992) and others come up wth an alternatve sense otruth Thus we cannot await the emanation o a new grand narrative o what





s true rom the practtoners o posmode socal theory. As a result, we aredoomed to perpetual ambvalence as well as to the need to nd ndvdualways o copng wth postmode socety. Ths s lnked to Foucaults199) dea that snce power exsts at the mcro level, resstance must alsotake place at the mcro level.) Whle ambvalence and such a lonely search

or ways o copng may be problems, they are preerable, n Baumans andothers) vew, to the terrorsm o the sngle grand truth. We are largely onour own n the postmode socal world n general, and n our relatonshpswth the new means o consumpton n parcular.

t s worth bearng n mnd that however crtcal the postmodests maybe o contemporary socety, ew any would seek a retu, one can call tthat, to mode socety. To many postmode theorsts, modety conjuresup mages o Auschwtz n comparson, le adrt n the hyperspace o apostmode shoppng mall s preerable

Cnclusin

The purpose o ths chapter has been to explore ast-ood restaurants, credtcards, and many other new means o consumpton rom the perspectve opostmode theory. Ths chapter s a supplement to prevous nterpretatonsby the author o astood restauants and credt cards rom a modeperspectve. The new means o consumpton can be analysed just as easlyand eectvely rom a postmode perspectve. Furthermore, a postmode

perspectve leads to a derent set o nsghts nto the new means oconsumpton They are not better or poorer, nsghts than those derved rommode theory; they are smply derent nsghts The analyss o the newmeans o consumpton clearly ndcates the utlty o both mode andpostmode theory ndeed t demonstrates the great strength o usng bothapproaches simultaneously

The new means o consumpton are not mode or postmode phenomena. They are socal phenomena tha can useully be analysed rom bothperspectves There s not much ulty n worryng about whether or not wehave moved rom a mode to a postmodern socety. ndeed, such thnkng

s oten counterproductve, leadng to endless wranglng over whether or notwe have undergone some sor o epochal change. However, the body opostmodern theory, especally the thnkng o people lke Baudrllard,Lyotard, Jameson and Bauman, s, as s demonstrated n ths chapter, ogreat utlty n thnkng about contemporary socal developments. Goodtheory s good theory, whether t carres a mode or a postmode label Weneed to spend less tme worryng about labels, and more tme developngand usng strong, useul theoretcal pespectves.

From the pont o vew o the socology o consumpton, the goal here has

been to hghlght the mportance o a number o the new means oconsumpton Much attenton s devoted to what we consume, and whatcauses us to consume what we do e.g. advertsng, marketng), but notenough attenton s devoted to the means that allow us or lead us) to




A Postmode Analysis

consume Yet such means are o great importance We are living in a epochin which the United States is witnessing the generation o a wide range onew means o consumption These new means are not only revolutioniingconsumption in the United States, but they are being exported to a largeportion o the rest o the world where they are leading people to consume

more like Americans This not only brings great economic gains to theUnited States but it is an important new mechanism or cultural imperialism

Ntes

Vesons of hs chape appeaed n Sal Wtnshan Deceme 996 and weepesened as an nved Plenay Addess a he Popula Sudes onfeence n ampeeFnland n uly 1 996 and a he annual meengs of he Amercan Socologcal Assocaon

New Yok y Augus 1996

. Ths s clealy n lne wh he vew ha one way o hnk of consumes s as vcms(Gael and Lang, 1995.

. Thee ae many ohes, of couse ncludng advesng.3 n hs vew, and many ohes expessed n hs chape am akng a poson close o

ha adoped y suppoes of crcal heoy Snce posmodesm s no a coheen heoy, ndeed geneally denes he possly

of such a heory, n he followng secon we wll pesen a pasche of posmode deas andhe applcaly o an analyss of he new means of consumpon.

5. Theoecally, ced cards could e used puchase "ognals, u n posmode

socey all we have ae smulaons6. The eal old Wes has een leed fo so long hough he smulaons of moves and TVshows ha s dfcul o even have a glmme of wha "eally was

7 Fo example, he myad weghloss machnes advesed on elevson always appeamoe usale and moe effecve han hey u ou o e when hey end up n ou dens.

8 would lke o hank Man arron fo ngng hs o my aenon9. Fasfood esauans wee slow o ncopoae he use of ced cads ecause, a leas n

pa, of he small amoun o money assocaed wh any gven puchase u ha s nowchangng

1 0 he nceased consumpon leads o nceased poducon. Howeve, much of haproducon does no occu n he ned Saes Fuhermoe, an nceasng amoun of wha sconsumed s sevces, no goods, and ha does no lead o explosve new poducon

I . n some cases, ceae smulaed cafs and dnes.




1 0

"McDisneyization and "Post-Touism:Complementay Pespectives on

Contempoay Touism

Toursm lke much else n the socal world s undergong a dramatctransormaton One way to look at these changes s to argue that they helpconsttute a stage that s contnuous wth modety they are part oadvanced modety Gddens 1990; Beck 1992). The most obvous problem wth such a vew s that the new world o toursm seems so derent thatt appears to lack much any mmedate connecton wth ts modeancestor. Hence the second way o thnkng about ths change s that t sboth part and a reecton o the movement rom a mode to a totally newand dscontnuous postmode socety Whle there s much mert n thssecond mode o thought one s led to wonder whether the changes aredramatc enough to qualy as an entrely new socal orm Furthermoresuch a vew tends toward the knd o perodaton attacked by post

modests. Worse t nvolves the knd o grand narratve that as we haveseen beore s the te noire o postmode socal theorsts especallyyotard 199/ 984).

It seems o lmted utlty not totally pontless to pursue questons lkehave the socal changes assocated wth toursm been contnuous enoughwth recent realtes to allow us to retan the mode appellaton ordramatcally derent enough to requre a new postmode label? Ratherthan lookng at modernty and postmodernty as epochs t s once agan armore useul to vew them as alternatve perspectves to be brought to bear on

the analyss o changng socal phenomena yotard 199l984 Wenstenand Wensten 1993) Speccally we wll look at toursm as one domano many) charactered by substantal socal change. We wll look at thosechanges rst rom a mode pont o vew and then rom a postmodeperspectve Our objectve s not to ascertan whether or not we have wthnths doman let the mode age or entered a postmode world. Nor s t todetermne whether one o these perspectves s better than another Ratherour goal s to use both perspectves n order to see what new lght we cancast on the changng nature o toursm and perhaps on the socal world

more generally.




McDisnyization and PostTourism 1 3

A Mdern Appach t Turism

There s no shortage o theores o modety among the classc socologcaltheorsts (Marx Weber Durkhem and Smmel) or among ther contemporary osprng Gddens ( 1 990 199 1 992) Beck (1 992) Bauman ( 1989

1991) Wagner (1994) Tourane (199) and many others. 1 n ths sectonwe wll employ another mode perspectve the McDonaldzaton thess.Ths perspectve strongly nuenced by Weber's theory o ratonalzaton sclearly nterpretable as a mode grand narratve. However whle mostgrand narratves (e.g. that o Marx) oer a utopan vew o the uture thsone ollowng Weber has a more dystopan vew emphaszng not theadvantages o the process (ecency predctablty calculablty control)but the ncreasng rratonalty o ratonalty

The logc o ths perspectve leads to the vew that toursm s growng

ncreasngly McDonaldzed. The hghly popular Dsney theme parks can beseen as paradgms o ths process (Fjellman 1992 Rojek 1993 Bryman199). Indeed these parks are dscussed at varous ponts n The McDonaldization of Socie n order to llustrate the reach o McDonaldzaton.Furthermore Bryman has examned the Dsney parks rom the pont o vewo McDonaldzaton and has ound them to be largely congruent.

Dsney World (to take a specc Dsney park) s ecent n many waysespecally n the way t processes the large numbers o people that wouldeasly overwhelm a less ratonalzed theme park. The set prces or a daly or

weekly pass as well as the abundant sgns ndcatng how long a wat onecan expect at a gven attracton llustrate calculablty. Dsney World shghly predctable there are no con men" to rp o' the vstor there areteams o workers who among ther other cleanng chores ollow the nghtlyparades cleanng up debrs ncludng anmal droppngs so that vstorsar not unplasantly surprsed when they take an errant step. Dsny thmeparks work hard to be sure that vstors experence no surprses at all. AndDsney World s a trumph o non-human over human technology. Ths snot only true o the numerous mechancal and electronc attractons but

even the human employees whose perormances (through lp-synchng orexample) and work (ollowng scrpts) are controlled by non-human technologes. Fnally there s no lack o rratonaltes o ratonalty at DsneyWorld or example long lnes and long wats make or great necencycosts (or ood the unendng hawkng o Dsney products both n and out othe parks) mount up become ncalculable and oten make what s supposedto be an nexpensve vacaton hghly costly What s supposed to be a humanvacaton tus or at least some nto a nonhuman or even a dehumanzngexpeence.

Dsney's theme parks came o age n the same era as McDonald's. Theorgnal Dsneyland and the rst outlet o the McDonald ' s chan both openedn the same year - 1 9. They are based on and manest many o the sameprncples (Kng 1983b). In act the two coporatons have recently agreed





to and embarked on a seres o ont ventures McDonald's has arguablybeen the more powerul symbol and orce n our age or no other reasonthan because ts 20000 or so outets worldwde Gbson 1 996a and anobjectve o 30000 outlets by the year 2000: McDonalds 1996) are moreubqutous than the ew Dsney theme parks. But McDonald's has been

the paradgm o ratonalty or socety as a whole Dsney has certanly beensuch an exemplar or the tourst ndustry Bryman 1995: 19) To thechagrn o proessonal gamblers Las Vegas hotels and the cty n generalare comng to exempy the Dsney model Las Vegas both n thedowntown area and the strp" looks more and more lke a huge themepark and many o ts large hotels are at least n part theme parks Ths s atrend that was begun severa decades ago by Crcus Crcus and s eptomed at least untl t too s surpassed by the MGM Grand. Accordng to oneexpert on gamblng Las Vegas is [already gamblngs Dsney World"

Grochowsk 1995 tacs added) Whle McDonalds tsel has not beenwthout nuence n the tourst ndustry t s Dsney and ts phenomenalsuccess that has been most responsble or brngng the prncples oMcDonaldaton or o ratonalaton you preer) to the tourst ndustry.Combnng the two perhaps we can talk the reader wll excuse thecreaton o another even ugler neologsm than McDonadaton o theMcDsneyaton" o the tourst ndustry.

Whatever ts source the tourst ndustry n general and vrtually everytheme and amusement park n partcular has been McDsneyed at least to

some extent. Cruse shps are takng on the appearance ncreasngly ooatng theme parks Dsney has ts own cruse shp the Bg Red Boat totake toursts to Dsney World and the new Dsney Cruse Lne wll begnoperatons n 998 ) Beyond cruse shps theme parks and casnos shoppngmalls have been McDsneyed comng to look more and more lkeamusement parks One could extend ths lst much urther but the pont sthat through the nuence o the Dsney theme parks many aspects o thetourst world have been McDonalded. Not only do these tourst attractonslook more and more lke a Dsney theme park but they come to embrace the

our basc prncples o McDsneyaton McDonaldaton) and tend toward generatng rratonaltes o ratonalty.

We have not even mentoned the package tours that receve muchattenton n the McDonadization of Socie. Yet whle these tours areundoubtedly hghly McDonalded we are aced wth a problem here sncerry 1990a) argues that such tours or at least the most standarded othem have passed ther heyday and are n declne. They represent theappcaton o Fordsm to the tourst ndustry but n rrys vew we havemoved nto a post-Fordst era n toursm and elsewhere). However the

McDonaldaton thess bulds upon and has much n common wth Fordsm ndeed I argue that McDonaldaton runs counter to the vew that wehave moved rom a Fordst to a post-Fordst socety Rter 1996a) rry'sargument on the declne o standarded tours appears to stand n drect




McDisneyization and "PostTourism 1 37

contradcton to the McDonaldation thess, at least n that sector osocety.

Urry s undoubtedly rght that the rgidly standarded tours he descrbeshave been n declne or some tme, but the package tour remans alve andwe Todays tours may be more exible than ther orerunners described by

Ury, but they are stll hghly McDonaldiedBut the key argument to be made here s that todays tours are lessMcDonalded than ther predecessors because at least n part, o thesuccess o McDonaldaton. That s, t s because so much o the largersocety has been McDonalded that there s less need to McDonalde thepackage tour tsel Take standarded meals, or example. In the past, one othe reasons that tour operators had to oer standarded meals was that theood avaable at a given tourst ste woud probably prove too unusual andunpredctable and thereore unpalatable or many toursts However, now

toursts can be saely let on their own at most locales snce those who wantstandarded meals wll almost undoubtedly nd them readly avalable at aoca McDonald's, or an outlet o some other inteatonal chan o ast-oodrestaurants. Fal ng that, the mode tourst is even lkely to eel comortabeat ndgenous astood chans like Nrula's n Inda whch specales nmutton burgers. Smlar chans, or ndigenous spnos, in many othersectors eg. Benetton n cothng, the Body Shop n cosmetcs) make mosttourst stes qute amlar and comortable or the majorty o toursts Assocey tsel grows more and more McDonalded, there s less and lessneed to rgdly standardie the package tour.

More generaly, n The Tourist Gaze Urry 1990a) argues that there arenne socal practces assocated wth what we normally call toursm Inrelaton to the package tour, Urry was mplctly questonng the McDonaldaton thess, whle that thess casts doubt on hs teraton o tourstcpracces Among other thngs, Urry 990a 23) argues that toursm s theopposte" o egular and organised work," that toursm oten nvolves hemovemen o people to a new place or places," that tourst stes are outsdethe norma places o resdence and work" and there s a clear ntenton toretu home," that tourst stes are o a derent scale or nvovng

derent sense," and that they are separate rom everyday experence andout o the ordnary". There s a sense that toursm s separate rom our dayto-day lves; we tour n order to see and experence somethng derent. Inact, Urry 1992) later argues that toursts do not want to gae" on andrequent that whch s ordnary; that which s not vsually dstnct.

Whle all o ths s certanly true to some extent, and true o some peopemore than o others, the McDonaldation thess leads to the vew thatpeope oen travel to other locales n order to experence much o what heyexperence n her day-today lves That s, they want ther tourst exper

ences to be about as McDonalded as ther daytoday lves. They mayeven delght n ndng and requenting a McDonald's n some ar-oocale.) Accustomed to a McDonalded leworld, many people want theollowng





Highly redictable vacations They may not want to be n step wth ellowtousts, but many want ew, any, suses. Pehaps as ou everyday legows moe and moe pedctable, we have less and less toleance o, andablty to handle, unpedctable events. The last thng most o today'stousts want to expeence s an unpalatable meal, a wld anmal o a at

nested hotel oom Sad a Hawaan hotel ocal, The kds ae sae heethee' s low cme, you can dnk the wate and you can speak the languageTrvel Weekly, 1 99). In addton to avodng the unamla assocated wtha deent cultue, many tousts want the thngs they ae amla wth. Foexample the cuse shp Norway eatues a televson n each cabn oerng,among many othe thngs, anothe key element o McDonaldzaton CNNCarpente, 994)

Highly ecient vacations The same pont apples hee Accustomed toecency n the eveyday lves, many people tend to have lttle toleanceo necent vacatons They want the most vacaton o the money hencethe populaty o cuses and package tous) and to see and do as much aspossble n the tme allotted One toust was pleased to nd that a hugecuse shp that caed about 2000 passenges, as well as nearly 1 000 cewmembes, had no queues Carpente, 1994) Maden voyages on cruse shpsae oten avoded by knowledgeable tousts because the necences haveyet to be elmnated

Highly calculable vacations Many people want to know n advance how

much a vacaton s gong to cost, and they abho cost overruns They alsowant to have tneaes that dene pecsely whee they wll be at a gventme and o how long. Cuses, o one, typcally have all o thesechaactestcs and ths goes a long way towad explanng the boomngpopulaty

Highly contlled vacations Ths can take vaous oms. Fo example,thee s a peeence o dealng wth people whose behavo s tghtlycontolled by scpts ust as wth McDonald's employees: edne, 1993)

athe than wth those who ae ee to behave as they w sh Dsney paks aenamous o the tght contol they execse not only ove how theemployees behave, but ove how they dess, how long the ha and nalscan be, what knds o ewely they may wea, and so on.) Then thee ae theoutnes on cuses bngo and Dcey Hose Racng' to lnedance lessonsand napkn oldng to pool olympcs' and aeobcs classes Newbe andFetche, 199) that gve ode to many vacatones' days Stes housngadvanced technologes moden aplanes, cuse shps, hotels, amusementpaks) ae peeed both n the own ght as well as o the contol they

execse ove both tousts and employees.O couse, ths a bngs wth t the same knds o rratonaltes that comewth the McDonaldzaton o all othe sectos o ou l ves In addton to tsdehumanzng chaacte tousm oten does gave dange to the eco-system.




"McDisneyization and "PostTourism 1 39

However, we end o accep e raonales, jus as we accep em n ourdaly l ves , as a modes cos o pay or e gans rom McDonaldaon. Tecenral pon n s conex s a McDonalded oursm sands nopposon o all o e pons made above by Urry abou oursm s lessand less lkely o oer e knds o derence oulned by m Our

vacaons are becomng more and more lke e res o our lves.To pu s n s mos exreme orm: McDonaldaon s undermnng eman reason or oursm Ta s, people ave n e pas oured oexperence someng new and deren, and oursm sel, as well as elocales o wc one joueys, are McDonalded, en ere s lle or noreason o our. Could be a e McDonaldaon o oursm wllevenually mean s demse? (See p 140 or a dscusson o ourng va eInerne and vrual ourng.)

Probably no Toursm w undoubedly connue o ours. Increasng

auence, a leas n some segmens o socey, w ll connue o uel oursm.Culurally, oursm oers people a number o ard-o-ress symbols osuccess and sopscaon. Tose wo rebel agans McDonalded oursmwll unquesonably orce some our operaors and ours ses o deMcDonalde, bu I nk ere wll connue o be a marke or McDonalded vacaons. Rased n McDonalded sysems, accusomed o a daly len ose sysems, mos people no only accep, bu embrace, em Insead obeng pu o by McDonalded vacaons, many wll gravae oward emI could even envson a world our o McDonald's resaurans (or Dsneyeme parks) In addon o mandaoy vss o McDonald's n Moscow andBejng, wo wouldn' wan o vs Norway and ea McLaks, e Neerlands and devour a groeneburger, Uruguay and eas on McHuevos andMcQuesos and apan and devour a Ccken Tasua sandwc (Sullvan,199)? Ts nerary s presened w a sense o rony, bu on secondoug my guess s a some clever our operaor could ea a bundle byadopng

Wle many welcome gly McDonalded ours, ere are ceranlyoers wo are wng, even eager, o ake rsks wen ey our However,or many o ose wo desre o see e exraordnary, ere s also a desre

o ave McDonalded sops along e way, and o rerea o a e end o eday. Te deal n s case s e rg combnaon o nonMcDonaldedand McDonalded elemens

Ten ere are ose ourss wo wan nong o w anyngMcDonalded Wle s sll possble o experence someng approacng oally non-McDonalded ravel, s growng arder o nd Te manreason s a ose wo pro rom suc acves rapdly McDonalde anyescape roue rom raonalaon dscovered by a sgncan number opeople. Ts as been underscored by Heywood (1994) n s work on

mounan clmbng He sees s, and recreaon n general, as an eor oescape e ncreasngly raonaled leworld. He conrass spor clmbng,wc as already been raonaled o some degree, w advenure clmbng wc s more o a pure spor. However, even n e laer, Heywood




McDisnyiation and "Post-Tourism 14 1

ts maor elements Frst te posttourst nds t ess and less necessary toleave ome te tecnologes dscussed prevously televson vdeos CDRom te Inteet and vrtual realty allow people to gae on tourst steswtout leavng ome Second toursm as become gly ecectc apastce o derent nterests vsts to sacred normatve broadenng

beautul upltng or smply derent stes Te postmode tourst smplyas a lot more coces or exampe one can take a pleasure voyage on oneo te uge cruse sps or coose a muc smaller but stll comortable spand make an expedton to more remote ocales Houser 1994) Ten teres te growt o ecotoursm Hll 199) as well as lestyle cruses andoter knds o vacaton) lke tose or senors as well as or gays andlesbans Taol 199) Trd posttoursts play at and wt tourng teyrecogne tat tere s no autentc tourst experence MacCannell1976)

Roek 1993) as also analysed posttoursm n terms o tree basccaracterstcs Frst te posttourst accepts te commodcaton o toursm t and te products awked along te way are all manestatons oconsumersm Second toursm s seen as an end n tsel and not a means tosome loter goal Trd posttoursts are drawn to te sgns especally temore spectacuar sgns assocated wt toursm

Bryman sees Dsney as ttng reasonaby well wt te dea o te posttourst ndeed t may well ave played a promnent role n stmulatng teatttude o te posttourst Bryman 199 177) Bryman adds addtonal

wegt to te dea o posttoursm by or example dscussng te smulacrate akes tat are more real tan real assocated wt posttoursm ngeneral and more speccally wt Dsney

Te obvous questons seem to be are we n act n te age o te posttourst? Have we let te era o te mode tourst? Tese may be teobvous questons but once agan tey are really te wrong questons Asbeore tey mply the knd o perodaton and grand narratve rejected bymost postmodests Te real queston s do tese postmode deas castnew and nterestng lgt on toursm?

Te dea tat tere s a cose lnkage between commodcaton consum

ersm and toursm s wort explorng Baudrlard 1968/1988 19701988Featerstone 1991) Clearly toursm as become a commodty to beadvertsed marketed and sold muc ke every oter commodty Urry1990a) However wat s not empased enoug s te degree to wctoursm can become ttle more tan a means to sell lots o oter commodtes Agan Dsney oers a wonderul example o ts A trp to DsneyWorld s a desrable goal n tsel as ar as te Dsney Corporaton sconceed but peraps more mportantly t s te gateway to te sae ooter Dsney products Te process begns on enterng te teme park wc

can be vewed as a tnly dsgused soppng mall set up prmary to sell awde array o Dsney products It ends wt te Dsney Vllage Marketpacewc s open late or tose wo stll ave te desre and te money) tosop ater tey ave vsted te park Indeed t s becomng dcult to




42 The New Mean o Conumption

dieentiate between shopping malls like Mall o Ameica and theme pakslike Disney Wold Fjel lman 1992 ; Babe 1995) The ome is a mall withan amusement pak the latte an amusement pak with a mall (I will havemoe to say about this kind o implosion" below but othe examples ae theway Las Vegas is cuently being tansomed into the wold's lagest

theme pak" Gochowski 1995); the Las Vegasization" Weeks andRobets 199) o shopping malls and cuise ships Fox and Radin 199)and the coming o Segawold the wold's st inteactive entetainmenttheme pak to London combining the theme pak with vitual eality May1995)) The only eal dieence between the contempoay mega-mall andtoday's amusement pak is in the elative mix o shops and amusements.I

The gowing populaity o outlet mals oten adjacent to esots alsoeects this kind o implosion o shopping and amusement Accoding toone industy inside Shopping has moe and moe become eceation .

You can combine you vacation o weekend away with outlet shopping"McEney 1995). Some outlet malls like Potomac Mills outside Washington DC have become touist destinations in thei own ight Similalymoe Canadian package tous now go to the West Edmonton Mall than toNiagaa Falls Davidson 1995). Timothy and Butle (1994 17) examinedcossbode shopping between the United States and Canada and concludedThee ae stong indications that unde some conditions shopping is thepimay motive i not the only signicant one in the decision to make sucha tip." Says a woman who plans tavel pogams o shopping malls

Touism is Calionia' s No business and shopping is the No 1 thingtouists want to do" (Seatte Time 1994) A lage popotion o the time andmoney devoted to vacations is spent on shopping while on vacation. Andsome as we have seen have taken this to its logical exteme shopping hasbecome the vacation

Retuing to ou main example Disney Wold is selling Disney poductsand visitos may easily spend a moe on ovepiced Disney goods leadingto incaculability) than on the visit to the pak itsel But that is just thebeginning Visits to the paks help to uel inteest in shopping at the Disney

stoe in the local mall which in tu had pobably played a ole in ceatingan inteest in visiting the pak). Visits to the paks and mall shops stoke upinteest in Disney movies the Disney Channel both o which o cousehelped ceate the inteest in visiting the theme pak and the shops) Disneybooks Disney ecodings and so on. Hee we have a synegistic system tosell and keep selling Disney poducts. Yes Disney Wold is itsel acommodity and pat o the consume society but it also plays its designatedole in this highly integated system

Babe (1995 97) has ecently summed up and extended) much o what

is being said above with his concept o McWold"cWord is an nranmn shong xrnc ha brngs oghr masmux mov hars hm arks scaor sors arnas fas-food chans(wh hr ndss mov -ns) and vson (wh s burgonng shong




McDisneyization and "PostTourism 1 43

network into a ingle vat enterprie that on the way to maximzing it pottanform human eing.

The vaous components o McWold gve us, as tousts and moegeneally), a choce o goods and sevces to consume although they aegoods and sevces o a vey lmted type) what they seek to lmt, not

elmnate, s ou ablty not to consumeAs the postmodests suggest, sgns ae cental to contempoay tousm

n toung, people ae consumng a wde aay o sgns It s mpotant thatwe undestand the natue and sgncance o those sgns and the ways nwhch they elate to othe sgns. McDonald' s and Dsney ae mpotant sgnsn themselves and wthn each s a wde aay o key sgnes Much thesame could be sad o all o the majo cons o tousm Las Vegas ngeneal, as well as each o ts mao hotels the mo cuse lnes egCaval, Pncess) Pas and the Eel Towe Inda and the Taj Mahal, and

on and onHoweve, whle sgns ae cucal, an undue emphass on them leads one tognoe the moe mateal aspects o tousm. Bauman 992: 1 ) s one whomakes ths agument n a moe geneal ctque o postmode socaltheoy

o many people realty remain what t alway ued to e tough olideitant and harh hey need to ink their teeth into ome qute real read eforethey aandon themelve to munching image on a viit to Diney World or infont of the

The dea o the new means o tousm allows us to get at the moemateal aspects o tousm, wthout losng sght o the sgncance o sgns.Ths dea s obvously deved om the boade concept o the new meanso consumpton see Chapte 9) whch ae not unelated to tousm

Obvously, astood estauants and othe chans have, a s ponted out above,pemtted package tous to become less standaded Malls, especally themegamalls have become toust attactons n the own ght Futhemoe,snce much o tousm s about sellng thngs, t has been pooundlyaected by the comng o age o the mall Dsney Wold, too, s n a sensea mall Las Vegas hotels, cuse shps and many toust destnatons havetaken on chaactestcs o a mall And the toust shps tu at least some othe destnatons nto malls

While hopping i good on eithe ide cruie hip uually dock off PhilipurgSt artin the capital on the Dutch ide and it Front Street i very populaWith a many a eight cruie hip and countle maller veel in port at oncethe three man teet can e a ma of congetion with pedetrian and motortafc competing for the ame treet pace (Newe and Fletcher 1 995

Above all, mode tousm would smply be mpossble wthout the cedtcad as a metameans o tousm and consumpton), t pemts one to make

ull use o all the new means o tousm A tp to Euo Dsney o a woldcuse would be vtually unthnkable wthout a cedt cad Retung to thetheme o mploson n ths context, many cuse shps ssue passenges theown cuse cads to make shoppng and gamblng ease whle at sea




1 44 The New Mean of Conumption

Beyond all o ths we must consder the new means o toursm themselves The Dsney theme park the cruse shp and the mode Las Vegashotel among many others are all such means They are o great symbolcmportance but they are aso careully desgned structures that lead peoplenot only to come but also to behave the way the desgners want them to. As

we saw above the Dsney theme park orces people to make at least twotreks through Man Street and to dstrbute themselves n a certan waythroughout the park The Las Vegas hotel makes t easy or vstors to get nbut harder to get out and vst other hotels In any case the hotels andcasnos are so vast hyperspace") that one has lttle need or desre to goanywhere else. The absence o clocks and wndows also serves to keeppeople n a gven casno and at the gamng tables) The hotels arestructured to lead people to spend money and to lose money at the gamngtabes and slot machnes The new megashp" Caval Lne's Detiny, the

world s largest cruse shp also has the quaty o hyperspace beng 893 eetlong and 1 16 eet wde and havng 1 2 decks 1 321 cabns severalrestaurants a two-level health spa a nne-story central atrum our swmmng pools a number o entertanment centers ncludng a -seat showlounge and a casno Fox and Radn 1 996). Al o these are desgned to lurepeople to the shp and the shp s structured to extract ther money once theyare on board.

We are n the mdst o the development o revolutonary new means otoursm. We wll undoubtedly see the ncreasng spread and utlzaton o

technques that are beng poneered n places lke Dsney World the MGMGrand and the Caval Cruse Lne These developments have gven armore people the opportunty to o ar more thngs large numbers o tourstsare able to do thngs today that would have been unmagnable not too longago Whle ths consttutes greater reedom n one sense n another sensethese new means o toursm are hghly constranng

In act the major exampes used here Dsney World the Las Vegashotel and the cruse shp have many o the characterstcs o ErvngGomans total nsttuton" whch he denes as paces o resdence andwork where a arge number o lke stuated ndvduals cut o rom thewder socety or an apprecable perod o tme together lead an enclosedormally admnstered round o le" Goman 196 1 x) A Dsney themepark a Las Vegas hotel and a cruse shp t perectly under ths dentonthey are total nsttutons. However there are derences between these andGomans prsons or mental hosptals. Stays are much shorter and thecontrol that s exerted s not neary as blatant and bruta It s the morepostmode gentle subtle sot" rather than the mode hard" orm ocontro No one accompanes the vstors to Dsney World and nssts thatthey go through Man Street at least twce or that they dsperse themselves

throughout the park. They do so because the park s structured to lead evenorce) them to do so. But as Foucault 1979) showed n hs work on thePanoptcon gentle and subtle control can be ar more troublng than theblatant and brutal orms People do not know how they are beng controlled





increase in the scope o simulations There is already a virtual tour o thetomb o the Egyptian queen Neertari Stile, 1995) And this says nothingabout the totally simulated, tourist destinations like Disney World.

But I would like to make a dierent argument here That is, rather thanseeking authenticity as MacCannell suggests, people raised and iving in a

postmode lieword dominated by simuations come to want, nay to insiston, simuations when they tour. For one thing, it is growing dicult todierentiate between the simulated and the real indeed Baudrilard arguesthat the real has already disappeared, imploding into the world o simulations In such a world, the tourist woud not know an authentic experienceeven i one could be ound. For another living on a day-to-day basis withsimulations leads to a desire or them when one becomes a touristAccustomed to the simuated dining experience at McDonald s, the tourist isgenerally not apt to want to scrabble or ood at the campre, or to survive

on nuts and berries picked on a wak through the woods The atter may beauthentic, but they are awuly dicult, uncomortable and unpredictablein comparison to a meal at a local ast-ood restaurant or in the dining roomo a hote that is part o an inteational chain Most inhabitants o apostmode word might be wiling to eat at the campre as long as it is asimulated one on the awn o the hotel

I woud like to put orth the thesis in contrast to MacCannell, that manytourists today are in search o authenticity he enormous popularity o thetourist destinations ocused on in this chapter speaks to the relentess searchor inauthenticity. Blissuy content with our simulated lives, why shouldwe search or anything but inauthenticity in our leisure-time activities?

Baudrillard (1983 23) makes ths point about Disneyland a perectmode o all the entangled orders o simulation Take, or example, thesimulated submarine ride to which people ock in order to see simulatedundersea lie Strikingy, many go there rather than to the more genuineaquarium itsel, however, a simulation o the sea) just down the road Howmany actually go to the sea to view say by snorkeling) undersea lie? Andor those ew who do, hasnt the sea itsel been atered simulated) toaccommodate the tourist? It has, at least in one setting

Fo he snoeng enhsas he ace o head s Folesone Naonal arneReseve Pa and ane sem a Hoeown Barbados. A ax hee cossabo $ 1 2 fom he sh. The governmen has bl an aea whee he novce canswm and foow a sees of nderwaer maes ha cre wha sh are lel obe seen. (Newbe and Fecher 1 995

Perhaps the best examples o this simulation o a tourist experience arethe tropica islands owned and completely controlled by the cruise linesCarey, 1996) Only passengers o the cruise line are allowed on shore.There are about ten such isands already, with more sure to come. In act,

Disney is said to be in the market or one or its soon-to-be-in-existencecruise line, and the existing islands are described as reassuringly Disneyesque Carey, 1996 B l ). On these islands the tourist nds no hawkers, nooverbuilding, nothing except perhaps the uncooperative storm) to mar the




"McDisneyization and "PostTourism 14

perect vacaton. No cash s needed everythng can be charged to one'sshp b. Rea Carbbean sands pae n comparson. Accordng to onetourst St Maarten wasn' t a very attractve sand . . It was drty. Theshops were knd o unky Sad another, amaca was pretty run down tous Carey 1996: B1).

The sands have a strong avor o Dsneyke smuaton. The bathroomsare squeaky cean. Food and drnk are brought on shore rom the shp andthe servce s provded by the shp's crew There s even an ersat marketnatves o a nearby sand sa over to sta t On one o the sands, areplica o a 1 6th century shp was purposey] sunk n the harbor to gvesnorkeers a thr Carey 1 996: B 1 tacs added). More recenty a panewas submerged to gve added thrs Not surprsngy, some koy academc an anthropoogst) descrbed a vst to such an sand as a vrtuaexperence and companed that toursts don't want to see any o the

consequences o coonasm the poverty, the sex trade Carey 1996:B)

Certany, there are those toursts who contnue to search out authentcsettngs and they can st nd a ew However vsts to them tend to bemore expensve than to nauthentc ocaes More mportanty they are keyto grow more dcut to nd Authentc tourst stes are key to go the wayo the caves at Lescaux they w be shut down and exact repcas w bebut nearby Fang that, they are key to be so atered by the demands ocaterng to arge numbers o toursts that they w become smuated

versons o ther orgna prstne orms.Let us use another exampe rom Baudrard's work. Suppose we wanted

to spend our vacaton among the peope o a prmtve trbe, the Tasaday.Sounds ke an authentc experence. However Baudrard regards theTasaday at east as t exsts today as a smuaton snce the trbe has beenroen cryogened stered potected to death Baudard 983 )It may at one tme have been a rea prmtve trbe, but today what exstss nothng more than a smuaton o what the trbe once was And now weare begnnng to see smuatons o smuatons. For exampe the new Sega

theme park n London w oer smuated va vrtua reaty) rdes o anaready smuated rde n, say, Dsney Word May, 199). We move evermore deepy nto Baudrardan hyperreaty. Even we accepted the deathat peope know the derence between a smuacrum and the authentcand we assume that at east some peope set out n search o the authentcBaudrard woud argue that ther eorts w be thwarted by the act thatnothng exsts but smuacra.

Ths secton has been devoted to postmode deas that have prevousybeen apped to toursm. We cose wth the menton o a concept, ecstasy

that as ar as I can te has yet to be apped to toursm. As we saw n Chapter9 by ecstasy Baudrard 1983/1990) means uncondtona metamorphoss,escaaton or escaaton's sake, a contnung process o spnnng out ocontro unt a senses are ost. Utmatey ths out-o-contro system reveas





ts emptness and meannglessness t shnes oth n ts pue and emptyom Baudllad 981990 9).

It could be agued that tousm s becomng such an ecstatc om. Gventhe mploson dscussed above the dedeentaton that s aectng tousm n many deent ways (Uy 1994) anythng and eveythng s comng

to be dened as tousm Ths s well llustated by bus tous to shoppngcentes and even bette by the poposed Oss Pak Wth eveythng denedas tousm t becomes a meanngless om. Yet, tousm s escalatngdamatcally. Baudllad uses ashon to llustate the ecstasy o the post-)mode wold, but tousm s becomng just as good an llustaton It snceasngly obese and canceous that s, t s gowng hypetelc. Thee sno end to tousm othe than lmtless ncease. Thee s no end o thetoust than to vst as many stes as possble, only on the nteet. Ths sobvously not ntended as an exhaustve applcaton o the dea o ecstasy

but to llustate that thee ae many moe conceptual esouces wthnpostmode socal theoy that the student o tousm mght nd useul

Cnclusins

Ths chapte has sought to demonstate the utlty o bngng both modeand postmode theoy to bea on contempoay phenomena n ths case nthe ealm o tousm. he use o the two pespectves yelds a moe anddeepe nsghts than would be deved om employng one o the othe.

Fom a mode vewpont, we have demonstated the applcablty o theMcDonaldzaton thess to tousm We have also extended t to the dea oMcDneyaton n ode to be able to ague that Dsney Wold not onlyeects the pncples o McDonaldaton, but has tsel become a model othe extenson o these pncples, as well as some o ts own, to the esto the toust ndusty In contast to the extant vew o tousm as motvatedby the dese to see somethng deent, McDonaldaton and McDsneyzaton lead to the vew that many people ae toung to see petty muchwhat they see on an eveyday bass Fo those who stll tou n ode to seeand do somethng unusua that s gowng pogessvely dcult as suchactvtes and settngs become McDonaldzed. Whle thee ae moe dveseoptons avalable to the contempoay toust those optons have themselvesgown atonalzed. t s countentutve deas lke these that ndcate thecontnung utlty o a mode pespectve

Howeve the act that mode pespectves contnue to be useul does notpeclude the act that postmoden pespectves mght also be o utlty. Thepostmode nteest n the consume socety leads us to undescoe thenceasng ntepenetaton o the toust expeence and the sale o commodtes Toust stes lke Dsney Wold have become shoppng malls and o

the pat shoppng malls have not only become amusement paks butdestnatons o tousts Whle the sgns assocated wth tousm aempotant we must not lose sght o the moe mateal new means o tousm Dsney Wold Las Vegas casnos cuse shps, and so on These can be




"McDisneyization and "PostTourism 49

seen as total nsttutons lockng people n tourst stes desgned to sellthem goods and servces. Further the postmode perspectve leads to thevew that nstead o searchng or authentcty the contemporary tourst slookng orward to and ncreasngly wll nd smulated experencesToursm lke consumpton s characterzed by an ecstatc hypertelc and

meanngless expansonThere are no grand conclusons to be drawn here Indeed the post

mode perspectve has done nothng else t has alerted us to the dangerseven the terorsm assocated wth grand narratves oerng grand conclusons about the past present and uture What we can say s that socaltheory n ts mode and postmode orms has much to oer the analystso the changng world o toursm. There s no truth to be uncovered aboutthe contemporary world o toursm Both the McDsneyzed tourst and thepost-tourst exst but nether gets at the tuth o tousm What exst are

concepts that allow us to understand thngs about toursm that we mght nothave understood beore We are let wth a pastche o nsghts some rom amode and others rom a postmode perspectve. They exst sde by sdewthout any grand overarchng theory wth whch to ntegrate them That sa relatvely modest accomplshment but as postmodests have shownsocal theorsts have good reason to be modest about ther conclusons abouttoursm or anythng else or that matter.

Nte

Ths chaper was coauhored y Allan ska. I s o appear n hrs Roek and ohn Urry(eds), Torin Cltre: Tnformaion in Tvel and Theo. London Rouledge 1 997.

1 ndeed, such heores are wha dene socoogy s classcal hnkers. hough as we w see Dsney Word s aso n a sense a shoppng ma orened o

geng peope o spend far more han hey do on her daly pass Of course, could e argued ha Dsneys moves, eevson programs and producs

make even more omnpresen han McDonads. For hose wh o do here are he unpredcales of advenure ravel Hll 995 O f

such advenure rave (or ecooursm) one wrer says, Ideay, offers enrchng aleaves o he conrved g paypen resors n whch packaged Amercanzed comfos aresmpy graed ono exoc ackdrops eleve 1 995 G ).

5 Hence he growh of neres n "susanae oursm (urr, 1995.6. And o make hem seem less and less McDonaldzed - McDonaldzaon whou

seemng o e McDonaldzed A good exampe s he movemen of groups of chan sores ovage ceners usually n afuen suurs Whe descred y one chan sore execuve ashe demang of Amerca, s n fac he rngng of he mal concep o smaler ocalesand makng hem seem ess mallke ess McDonadzed Pacee, 1 996 ) Accordng oone realesae nvesor, You have o e carefu no o make look lke a shoppng cenerYou can make ook oo unform (Pacee 1 996 ) . Anoher way of makng malls seem

less McDonadzed s seen n he rend oward ransformng shops n mas so ha hey ookmore ke cy shops (Ahrens, 1996.

7. Faola fees ha s exremey unlkey ha peope w rave va he Inee raher hann person. u Faoa s dscussng he Inerne and no vual ourng. In any case he may ea oo opmsc for our McDonaldzed age




50 The New Means of Consumption

8 Mun (199 dcue her mddeca ur wh eek dance hemeve frm craer ur.

9. ryman make he n ha wha Dney ha ffer n h ream n new recurr had characec ha cud e decred a mde

10 here a rade knd f mn akng ace nvvng varu crae urchaeand merger eg f Dney and radcang gan aa e/A). hee are degned

ncreae he hrzna and verca negran f rganzan nvved n cnumn ngenera, a we a n urm n arcuarSme hng ma are eng ranfrmed, a ea n ar, n wha Week and Rer

( 996 ca amuemen ma hee are ma whch are dened n arge a y heramuemen cener and n y her h and dearmen re. Amng he m nae fhee amuemen cener are he Dcvery ne aygrund fr chdren and Dave anduer' a chan ha ecaze n adu eneanmen.

arer ( 1 995 28 decre n ny ma, u cmmerca r and chan eaere aheme ark Mre eccay,

here a ene n whch McDnad a heme ark a fd chan feaurng wnMckey Mue Rnad McDnad mnaure nnmechanca rde n he ayandude, cmmerca ien wh ceere and wh h lm . and ervavecam n Amercan feye

Whe McDnad mgh n e he knd f ur denan ha ma have ecme, heyare an negra a f uch ma and many her ur e.

1 2. n fac, me f hem (e.g crue hi are mean f cnumng ur gd andervce

3 . Dave and uer' a ack cck and wndw. Say a genera manager aganreecve f mn, ' ke a Vega . We dn' wan yu knw wha me ' (Week and Re, 1 996 C5

1 wa he Eaeer ang em fr he d War

15 N a uch effr are uccefu A nae faed aem wa Dney an fr av War heme ark ude Wahngn, D w h fake ndan v age, a reca farmmck v War ae and a faux far'. A wh he cave f Lecaux, hi imuan wa e cnruced whn haing dance f rea ndan ra acua farm, a cuny fargrundand a wn ha wa acked and urned y nn r' (ced n arer 1 995: 35.

6 A n he McDnad ui n he iand wa frced ce afer xmnh

1 hey ray wud f wa muaed




1 1

McUniversity in the PostmodernConsumer Society

Universities like most other social structures rarely change as rapidly or asmuch as prognosticators anticipate. Thus in the near term the university isgoing to have many characteristics in common with todays university.However accompanying the many continuities will be a variety o dramatic

changes many o which are already in their early stages. There are dierentways o conceptualiing these changes but one approach is to begin bythinking about the retention o the viable elements o todays university andthen adding elements derived rom a range o everyday experiences with thenew means o consumption (including tourism)

On the surace this seems a statling assertion What does the universityhave to do with astood restaurants ATMs Disney MTV Las Vegas andthe like? The answer at least in the near uture is plenty! My view is thatuniversities will be borrowing liberally rom all o these indeed they will

come to be a pastiche o diverse elements derived rom them (and rommany others o course) and combined with elements that are holdoversrom its past (our present). n act this combination o traditional and morecontemporary elements will make the university o the near uture evenmore postmode than it is tday

When thought about in these terms the university can be conceived o asa means o educational consumption one that allows students to consumeeducational services and eventually to obtain impotant goods" degreesand credentials. Thus the university is squarely within the realm o a ocalconce o the postmodernists the consumer society. This chapter looks atchanges (curent and on the horion) in the system o higher education aswell as responses to them rom the vantage point o the consumer societyand the postmode theory that privileges it

A maor problem acing todays university is that at least in comparisonto many o the mode means o consumption it is a decrepit mode oconsumption. As a result it is coming under pressure at least in partbecause there is a growing sense that it does not do a very good ob oalowing students to consume education. t also looks awully dated boringand cumbersome in comparison to other cuttingedge exciting and ecient

means o consumption such as ATMs ast-ood restaurants mega-mallssuperstores theme parks and cybermalls.

Students (and oten more importantly their parents) are increasinglyapproaching the university as consumers the university is ast becoming





little more than another component o the consumer society Long beorethey enter the university students are quite expert about the world oconsumption and how to nd their way about in it Parents are i anythinglikely to be even more adept as consumers than their children and because othe burgeoning cost o higher education more apt to bring a consumeristmentality to it The increasing number o adult students oten retuing toschool ater a hiatus are even more likely than other kinds o students toadopt a consumerist orientation to higher education in part because theyhave more experience at it and in part because they are usually spendingtheir own money

Supporting this contention is the view o many school ocials includingone who said Research data is telling us that students are consumers andthey are looking at cost quality and convenience when choosing a school· In a sense students want to get the best product or their money (Sulski

995) Educators are being compelled to recognie this new reality:Whil w may no b rady o hink of sudns as cusomrs, or vn aspurchasrs of srvcs hy may wll bhav ha way xrcsing choics hasm unusual o faculy who ar usd o prscrbing sudn bhavors Manysudns a publc unvrsis alrady walk away from courss, forfiing uiion,o proc hir im; n h fuur hy may xpc rfunds for inadqua orinaccuraly advrisd courss Faculy will soon nd hmslvs changing hrways of achng and inracing gving priory o ming spcid laingobjcivs insad of managng classroom mings (Plar, 995)

Educators are coming to recognie that universities are going to need toadapt to these new realities

w can bgin o hin o ucaion as a prouc hh w omoabwih such rmnology or no, w nd o rcogniz ha virtually vry ohrscor of Amrican sociy has gon (or is gong) hrough a ransfomaion hamaks funding conngn on h dlivry of valud oucoms Th publc wsrv ss us, and our work, hrough ha nw lns; i will no much longr fundus as a slf-vidn good Wha w do wih our im, hn wll b rordrd by arcogniion ha w ar bcoming a consunbasd srvic indusry or profssion (Plar 1 99)

A recent study o undergraduates at 30 campuses in the United Statesrevealed the ollowing about todays students

• Higher education is not the center o most students lives it isntnecessarily even their most important activity Going to school likegoing to McDonalds Disney World or the mall is just one part o astudents lie

• Students generally want their universities to operate like their banks andast-ood restaurants

Thy wan ducaon o b narby and o opra during convnin hours

prfrably around h clock hy wan o avoid rafc ams, o hav asy,accssibl an low cos parking short lins, and poli and cn prsonnland srvics. Thy also wan high-qualiy producs bu ar agr for lowcoss hy ar willng o comparson shop placing a prmum on im andmony (Lvin, 993 4)




McUniversi in Postmode Consumer Socie 53

• Students generally do not want rills and extras they want the equivalento a McDonalds value meal" or a discounted passport" good or aweek-long visit to Disney World. According to Levine

he ae eein a ippeddwn vein f cllee wih den affaiexaccla aciviie eidence lie vai p, camp chaplain

Gee life [faei and i] he pifeain f pecial cefac ie each he eeach appaa, mem, he panpl faxilia enepie and he expanive phica pan ha cnie acllee da (1993: 4)

• In sum, All they want o higher education is simple procedures, goodservice, quality courses, and low costs . . . They are bringing to highereducation exactly the same consumer expectations that they have orevery other commercial enterprise with which they deal (Levine, 993:4).

Assuming the reader accepts my basic premises the university is ameans o educational consumption, it is increasingly being seen in that way,and students are adopting a consumerist orientation to it what is theuniversity to do in the ace o these new and emerging realities? O course,one option is to do little or nothing and in act some, especially the higheststatus, most prestigious universities (Harvard, Oxord, and so on), may beable to do just that and survive very nicely However, most other collegesand universities will not be able to take the high road and will need to adaptto these new realities While they can abricate wholly new responses, it is

more likely that universities will cast about or readymade solutions thatcan be adapted to their needs They will nd such answers at, among otherplaces, the ATMs, ast-ood restaurant, mega-mall, cybermall, home shopping network, and so on. Here are a set o means that have clearly beenenormousy successul in attracting consumers and in satisying their demands Smilar ortune appears to await the universities that successulladapt and utilie the innovations pioneered by these new means o consumption.

It is not unusual or universities to tu to business or answers

(Daosch, 995; Seymour, 995). Plater (995) or example, saysWhie we hld neve bindl bine f anwe anizainalpblem we can a lea beve hw lae cpain have led emae hemelve in decenalized peain ha aen he adminiaivehieach and pace me ece and eae ah f deciinmaincle he cme and he delivee f he pdc evice

However, it is one thing to tu to prestigious industrial giants like IBM orGM it is quite another to look to the seemingly ar humbler McDonald's orDisney. Universities continue to look to industry or innovations (e.g. TQM tota quality management), but the contemporary university is not primarily a means o production and thereore has more in common with, andto lea rom, the new means o consumption.

In addition to the demands o consumerist parents and students, thepressure on colleges and universities to change is ueled by economic





actos, especay the elatve decne n the ndng o hghe edcatonWth otsde ndng beng edced, the nvesty esponds by cttng costsand by attemptng to attact and keep moe new and payng) cstomes."The new means o consmpton ae attactve models becase they excel notonly at attactng cstomes, bt also at edcng costs Fo example, banks

have ond that ATMs both attact cstomes becase o the ecency,and ae a mch less expensve way to dspense cash than hman telles.Smlaly, the astood estaant can be seen as not only a magnet tocstomes, bt also as a hghly costecent machne o the dspensng ohambges and sma nge oods. Unvestes wll seek to emlatesettngs lke ast-ood estaants not only becase they attact hodes ocstomes, bt also becase they save lage sms o money at least elatveto the necent opeaton o the compaatvely dlapdated nvesty)

Thee s stll a thd eason that wl ead nvesty admnstatos to

become stdents o the new means o consmpton technoogy. Many othe new means ATMs, cybemalls) ae deeply mplcated n the latesttechnologes and othes ae mch the ahead than the nvesty n thetlaton, even ceaton, o those technologes The le o new technologes s closely elated to the othe actos. Stdent consmes ae a moelkely to be attacted to a nvesty that appeas to be hgh tech"Fthemoe, those technologes pomse to owe the nvesty's cost ocayng ot ts edcatonal bsness.

What mght a nvesty o the te a not too dstant te at that) that

daws on these new means o consmpton look ke? Immedately elevantmodels o tomoow's nvesty ae today's McDonald's HambgeUnvesty o Dsney Unvesty hese nvestes" aleady epesent theknd o pastche dscssed above, and nlke tadtonal nvestes they aenceasngly popla and oe to the gadates vtally gaanteed jobsand caees n thvng ndstes

Hee s a descpton o McDonald's Hambge Unvesty whee onecan ea a vey sel and maketable BH, bachelo o hambgeology)

Hambug unsy today has a campus many connona collgs would

ny a scludd ncla [on 80 acs aung a 30000-squaoo sat-ohar lanng acy and a 00room hol, th Lodg opatd by HyaHotls as a hghclass hghtch domtory

Th ang complx ncluds sx amphthatstyl classooms ggd oryhng om nact stng to smultanous anslaons ou "amooms wh ands pactc o pays und th ctonc ys o a bank odo camas; 1 7 bakou ooms; ou uy unconng qupmnt labs omastng th ga o h modn bug busss an audtoum; a lbay; andh aculty ocs o 30 um nstucos cud om d opaons.(Schaa, 1 4:

In addton to ts cental camps, Hambge Unvesty has smalle campses" n England, Gemany and apan, ten othe tanng actes, as wellas a satellte lnk to Astala.

Anothe dect model o the te o hghe edcaton was dedcated nealy 1996 n, whee else, Olando, Floda Bannon, 1996) The new Dsney




McUniversity in Postmode Consumer Sociey

Insttte oers 60 adlt-edcaton programs ncldng cookng toparycreatons and relatonshps" There are no cartoon characters walkng thegronds no rdes and the gt shop oers thngs lke dred porcnmshrooms Modeled loosely ater the hghbrow Chataga Insttton npstate New York the camps" s desgned to look lke Anytown USA"

In act the creaton o the Insttte was set n moton ater the Dsneycharman vsted Chataga and decded to create a smlar settng toenhance and mprove qalty o le in the Disney fashion (Bannon 1996C talcs added) Inclded nder the headng o the Dsney ashon" arebreathtakng cleanlness mancred gronds and an nappably perkysta Ater recevng a wakep call reqest at mdnght one operatorcoldn't help bt gsh Have a nce day!' (Bannon 1996 C) Unlke theworkers at other Dsney theme parks the nstrctors and other sta membersare not consdered cast members" However lke cast members ther har

mst be ct short and kept neat they are not permtted acal har and theymst wea a Dsney norm Sad one teacher Yo wold thnk thatpeople want to see what a real photographer or lmmaker actally lookslke not a Prates o the Carbbean character" (Banno 1 996 C) TheInsttte wll contan a lberal mx o entertanment and normaton n otherwords t wll be yet another orm o hghly ratonalzed notanment

The ocals o more tradtonal nverstes can le mch rom Hambrger Unversty and the Dsney Insttte abot how ther nstttons canbetter meet the desres o tomorrow's stdents. Bt there s a range o other

lessons to be leaed rom the means o consmpton themselves In theollowng pages we dscss a varety o changes one can expect n anversty that seeks to lea rom the new means o consmpton Followng the work o Parker and ary (199 see also Prchard and Wllmott1996) whch s n trn based on my work on McDonaldzaton we can orobvos reasons ca or orwardthnkng bt hypothetca nstttonMcUnversty"

To stat wth McUnversty w l l contne to have a central camps bt ts lkely to be more compact and rn by a meaner leaner organzaton

(McDonald's s amos or rnnng ts ar-ng operatons wth a mnsclesta Downszng wll be the norm on campses lke that o McUnverstyas t s these days n the bsness world and n govement

However downszng s not enogh Controllng costs s only part o theanswer another maor component s attractng and keepng stdents and therevene they represent To attract large nmbers o payng" stdents mostcampses wll need to become more lke shoppng malls or theme parks.They are gong to have to oer at least some exctement color and n they are to be able to draw stdents away rom ther home compters or

classes at more convenent satellte locatons (see p 6) . Many stdentnons are already beng transormed nto mn-malls wth the nclson oATMs vdeo games and ast-ood otlets The tre o the nversty maybe ond at least n part n ts crrent stdent nons.





Makng themselves more lke shoppng malls s a ptve step thatnverstes can take However n order to attract and please ther stdentconsmers nverstes wll also need to elmnate as mch negatvty aspossble Ater all shoppng malls have ew any negatves the emphasss on the postves Ths we can expect nverstes to contne the trend

toward grade naton" by lmtng poor grades even rther than they donow. Smlarly steps wll be taken to redce the nmber o stdents whodrop ot or nk ot. Overall the obectve wll be to elmnate as manybarrers as possble to obtanng degrees. In act ths s already occrrng na process Smon (996) has labeled the dmbng down o hgher edcaton" Ths ocs on postvty wll prodce an edcatonal world that nBadrllards ( 990/ 1993: 45) words resembles the smle o a corpse n aneral home"

The goal o the nversty wll also be to make t ar easer or stdents to

obtan the varos edcatonal servces t oers. Among other thngs thsmeans that t wll go to the stdents rather than watng or stdents to cometo t. As a reslt o sch developments hgher edcaton wll be decenteredthe heart o edcaton wll be less and less lkely to be ond on the collegecamps or even n a college bldng Ths s exempled by the spread osmall edcatonal satelltes Not srprsngly an mportant growth area orastood restarants themselves s the constrcton o small satelltes someo them in nverstes rather than l lservce" otlets ) Whle t mghthave a central camps and a nmber o smaller satelltes McUnversty s

more lkely to be nothng more than an expandng chan" o sch satelltes.One solton postsecondary nstttons have ond s to make lke a retalstore and ranchse These chans are called satellte campses and theyare sprngng p all over . . the naton" Howard 1996) Satelltes are lkelyto be ond n preexstng stes commnty colleges hgh schools workplaces and even n the Mall o Amerca: Wnerp 994) bt they arenewly constrcted they are lkely to be n or near shoppng malls and to takethe orm o small oce bldngs or large astood restarants Stdentswll drop by" or a corse or two. Parkng ots wll be adjacent toMcUnverstys satelltes as they are to ast-ood restarants) to makeaccess easy.

The Unversty o Northern Arzona s one o the poneers o sch asatellte system and n the vew o ts presdent:

h chang s not ho poduc mnvsons of th unvsty all ovAzona, but ho nvnt n mods o ntactons btn studnts and thnsttuton and ho nvnt n communts o anng that a dffntom th tadtona campus, but no lss valuabl to th studnts (Monaghan996 A

Sad an ocal at one satellte school : We are desgned arond the concepto convenence or the stdents . I 20 stdents at one company want totake the class rght ater work then thats what well oer" Howard 1996)Unverstes wll not only make t easer or stdents to take corses bt alsoto transer credts to and rom other edcatonal nstttons




McUniversi in Postmode Consumer Socie 17

Advanced technology wll make t unnecessary or students even to go tothe satelltes They wll be able to access vrtually all o the course-relatedmaterals rom ther home computers or va vdeo-conerencng. Dstanceeducaton s already wth us and vrtual educaton s not ar behndeducaton wll become natonal and even nteatonal n scope In other

words, as n most other aspects o postmode socety, the nature o the tmeand space assocated wth educaton wll be altered dramatcally (Harvey,1989). Students wll be able to access much o ther educatonal materal atany tme o the day or nght. And educaton wll take place n many derentlocales, most o them great dstances rom the source o the educatonaltransmsson

The Unversty o Northe Arzona currently delvers over 0 courses toabout 1 ,000 students a semester (an estmated 2,000 more students watch theclasses on cable TV and they can enrol or credt) at 1 2 satelltes (plans are

aoot to expand that to 2 1 stes) va a mcrowave based two-way-televsonsystem (Monaghan, 1996). In addton, the school employs computer-basedteachng va the Inteet. These methods are very costeectve somesatelltes do not even have nstructors present. Sad a state educaton ocal :they take a multmllon-dollar structure and make t avalable at stesstatewde (Monaghan, 1996: A24). Not surprsngly, tradtonal acultymembers are less than happy wth the development: A lot o us eel t'sunortunate that many students won't, can't, don't have the experence o aunversty campus' (Monaghan, 1996: A2)

We can expect that the nature o hgher educaton wll grow even moreclass-l nked That s , upper- and many mddle-class students wl l stll getmost o ther educaton on campus (especally n the elte schools lkeHarvard and Oxord), but some mddle-class and most lowerclass studentswl l spend lttle or no tme on tradtonal campuses : nstead they wl l recevethe bulk o ther educaton at satellte locatons or n ther own homes

In ther assocatons wth the new means o educaton, t w bencreasngly clear that students are not only recevng educatonal sgns butare also purchasng sgns and that those sgns serve to derentate themrom students who purchase other sgns. For example, those who purchase aset o sgns rom a satellte o McUnversty are derentatng themselvesrom those who obtan a degree rom Hamburger Unversty Smlary,those ew who can stll aord to attend McUnversty's man campus arebuyng sgns that derentate them rom those who are only able to attendone o McUnverstys satellte locatons. O course, all o us wll come toknow the code that allows us to read the derences between degreesrom McUnversty man campus, a McUnversty satellte, and HamburgerUnversty

Advanced technology wll abound at McUnversty and courses and

course-related materals wll be avalable on TV, vdeo tape, va computer,and so on (Barker, 1 994). Accordng to Green and Glbert ( 199) :Mdway through the 90s colleges and unverstes conront a secondmajor phase o [the computer revoluton a sht n emphass rom the





computer as a desktop tool to the computer as the communications gatewayto colleagues and content databases image and text libraries video andmore) made increasingly accessible via computer networks." These technologies and others will reduce both the need or instructors and the cost oeducation. Courses can be beamed rom a central studio some other

university or even some other country to satellite ocations. This urtherreduces the need or a satellite to have a aculty o its own. Libraries will beinternational multimedia centers with students able to access most materialrom home computers

As a result o such advanced technologies McUniversity will be hyperreal more real than its contemporary predecessors. For example instead otaking a course in person with a proessor who bases her lecture on the worko an eminent colleague at a ar-o university the student can take a telecourse with that eminent proessor watch a videotape o a long-dead scholar

o great renown or even one eaturing a computer-generated virtual proessor. Or instead o taking a book rom the college library a student canaccess a CD-Rom which includes the book live action shots and commentsby the perhaps deceased author

Those who teach in McUniversity and its satellites are highly unlikely tobe ull-time tenured aculty members Howard 1996). Most will be parttimers brought in to teach a course or two. Their pay like that o employeeso ast-ood restaurants will be low and their benets ew i any. Also as inthe case o astood restaurants rules regulations systemwide syllabuses

and constraints o all types will abound The latter make it possible orcourses like hamburgers and our interaction with counterpeople) to be muchthe same rom one satellite to another Howard 996 ort will be adeto script proessors like counterpeople) as much as possible through theuse o uniorm lectures and ancillary materials The existence o manysatellites leads administrators to seek some uniormity in what is taughtThey will want to be sure that instructors say much the same thing rom onetime or place to another In other words teaching positions at McUniversitywill look increasingly like Mcobs Chapter 5).

Because o the nature o its acuty as wel l as o the constraints i t placeson them McUniversity will be ar more concerned with reproducing existingknowledge than producing new knowledge Those who sta satellite campuses and university television studios or computer labs) will have littletime ew inducements and little in the way o acilities to engage in originalscholarship and research. With traditional universities and scholars indecline the issue becomes who will produce the new knowledge to betaught in the new means o education

The knowledge transmitted in universities will be less and less oundational Satellite tele and computermediated campuses wil l increasingly

oer students what they say they need and want not what is part o somecanon. Universities will be less insular they will be more physicallyembedded in and intellectually intertwined with the community. Anotherway o saying this is that education will become more local.




McUniersiy in Postmode Consumer Sociey 1 59

We have yet to menton the unverstes or example the CaloaInsttute o Integral Studes the Teacher's Unversty the Natonal Unverstes Degree Consortum and the Mnd Extenson Unversty) that exstentirey n cyberspace One leadng example s Vrtual Onlne Unversty'sAthena Unversty wth over 350 courses n eght schools" As a result o

these vrtual unverstes as well as the knds o thngs that are takng placen tradtonal unverstes lke Northe Arzona hgher educaton lke muchelse n socety wll be domnated by computerzed televsed mages Thesemages wll be crculatng n hyperspace sde by sde wth smlar magesrom many other sources MTV CNN the Dsney Channel the HomeShoppng Network) t wll grow dcult to dstngush the unversty'smages rom all the rest. Relevant here s Baudrllard's (176/13 )descrpton o a generalzed brothel o sgns but a brothel not orprosttuton but or substtuton and commutaton" Not only wll all sgns

educatonal or not be substtutable and commutatable but we wll also ndt hard to dstngush the unversty's satelltes rom those o the ast-oodndustry n act many o the latter wll be ound n the ormer

As the derences between unverstes and commercal purveyors omages mplode the latter wll come to be mportant compettors oMcUnversty CNN's Ted Tuer has proposed an electronc unverstyMTV s already publshng books). Sad one observer

Matematcs scence wrtng publc speakng and crtcal tnkng are areadypackaged and commercally avalable often employng as consultants facultyfrom our own nsttutons As cabe move telepone and oter communcatoncompanes merge tey are ured by te enormous educaton maket ncludng tepossblty of making education entertaining. Rudmentary as te audo and vdeocassettes of Te Teacng Company may be tey sgnal te begnnng of a omeunversty staffed wt te most brant classroom ecturers n Amerca to ctete companys own pubcty fo one of ts products te Greatest ectures byAmerica's uperstar Teacers (e eacng Company s one of te moreatve propetay leang organatons usng ome tecnologes and representsover 30 professors from some of te natons most prestgous unverstes)(Plater 99 talcs added)

Tradtonal unverstes may go out and hre superstar" proessors at other

nsttutons to teach dstance courses or them but t s just as lkely thatan ndependent dstrbutor suc as a teepone company a cable televsonsystem or an electronc pubser mgt re a faculty member to produce apersonal enancement package st a course by anoter name (Plater99)

Perhaps no term captures the nature o the unverstes o the uture betterthan mploson" Today's unverstes wll be mplodng nto the locatonso ther satelltes the meda especally televson) the computer andcyberspace entertanment consumpton and so on. In act they are mplod

ng nto so many thngs and so extensvely that one s let to wonder what anythng wll be let? The mage that comes to mnd s a Baudrllardanblack hole where t s hard to dstngush the unversty rom everythngelse.





Furterng tis implosion s te act tat in an eort to be competitive inte world o images, ocials o McUniversity wll come to empasize manyo te same kinds o production values tat one sees on MTV and CNNocials mgt even ire teir ormer employees Te result will be asmulated world o education very smlar to suc obvious simulations as

Hamburger University wic, in addition already relies on smulations toteac students) and Disney Institute

As a result o implosion a simulated iger education wi ll , l ike everytingelse, enter Baudrillards ractal stage were everyting nterpenetrates wewll be n te era o wat migt be called te transeducatonal Snceeducation will be everywere, since everyting will be educatonal, in asense noting wll be educational

Universities will be competing wit many oter organzatons or students. Tey will be at a disadvantage not only visvis many o ter ar

more tecnologically advanced compettors, but also in comparison witmany o te students wo, aving been raised in a world o cyberspace, willbe ar better at negotiating teir way about in t tan most o te aculty Asa result o teir igtec upbrnging and work experiences, students will betoug udges o te university

Sudes wll have expecaos fo poduco qualy ha ae beyod he pesecapacy of mos suos ad low oleace fo sucoal dececes Yewe have o choce bu o compee fo he me ad aeo (lae 1 99

Te coming o all o te new players and tecnologies will radically alter

te nature o teacingTechology wll chage foeve he doma model of sychoous melkedeaco a as mae eahg a eag ompemeay a edepede Leag w ll o loge deped o a faculy membe's eachg Alhough heceuesol model of eachesude-classoom wll o dsappea wll ologe domae lae, 99)

Many o te new approaces nvolve a oneway ow o normation, witte result tat tere is no giveandtake no possbilty o Baudrllards( 1976/ 993) symbolic excange between tose wo teac and tose wolea Suc nteractions wll be more and more caracterzed by tepredominance o excange values over symbolc excange In muc workon te computer, students will, in eect, interact only wit temselves andte tecnology Even in twoway televsed courses, it is impossible toengage in truly uman interaction wt televsed or computerized images

Like all o Baudrillards oter ecstatic systems, educational systemswill become ypertelic, expanding n innumerable ways in a mindless eortto survve even i tat means surrenderng everyting tat as madeeducation distinctive

To improve eciency o operations, more and more students will be

issued smart cards essentially credit cards wt embedded mcrocips)wc tey can use to pay or courses ees books ood and so on seeCapter 8). McUnversity will come close to being casless and cecklessand tereby come to use increasingly simulated means o payment In




McUniveri in Potmode Conumer Socie 1 1

addton, such cards can be used to gan entry to school buldngs, to dentythe student, to store student records and to check out lbrary books orbetter, CD-Roms). Wth such cards, students wll be able to do mucho ther busness wth the unversty mpersonally through ATM-lkemachnes

Lke ther brethren who transact busness at the local ATMs as well as atast-ood restaurants and n nteracton wth cybermalls), students wll beorced to do more o the labor wthn the new means o educaton they wlleducate themselves more and more on ther own n nteracton wth magesemanatng rom ther computer and teevson screens Lke much else, thsdevelopment wll be drven by cost consderatons. Students do ths work orree and as a result unverstes are able to do wthout the many hghly pademployees prevously needed to help and nstruct them

Many moe thngs could be sad about ongong and comng changes n

hgher educaton rom ths pont o vew, but ths should gve the reader theavor o the knds o change to be expected when one looks at the unverstyrom a postmode perspectve as a means o consumng educatonalservces and goods

Cnclusn

In closng, I should make t clea that I do not expect tomorrow' s unverstyto look exactly lke a shoppng mall or a chan o astood restaurants.

However, I do expect t to ntegrate applcable elements o these and othernew means o consumpton and toursm) nto the exstng structure o theunversty I also expect the unversty to borrow lberally rom many othersectors o socety as well as to retan many o ts tradtonal components. Iemphasze the new means o consumpton n ths chapter n part because,counternutve, I thnk the wll be an mportant model or utureunverstes Ths emphass s desgned to provoke a dalogue about how arwe wsh to move n that drecton, and even whether that s really thedrecton n whch we wsh to move.

Ntes

Ths chae s he ex o he enay addess o he Dlemmas o Mass Hghe Edcaonconeence a Saodshe Unesy Saodshe Engand n A 1 996 I was shedas "McUnesy n he osmode onsme e Qal n Hgher Edaon 21996 185-99.

Fo he oses o hs chae I ssme means o osm nde he headng o hemeans o consmon.

2 Ths I dsagee wh Bloand's ( 1 995) conenon ha he nesy s necessay he

nessenal mode nson3 Smaly he hosal can e seen as a means o consmng medcal seces and as sch

w ndego many o he same changes as he nesy. Fo a dscsson o one exame seeShae's ( 1 996 A ) dscsson o HeahSoh o. whch s sng o ecome a knd o"Holday Inns o McDonad's o heah cae.




1 2

Dealing with the New Means of Consmption

While have paid a geat deal o attention in this book to descibing astood estauants, cedit cads, and othe new means o consumption andtouism, one o my continuing conces is the issue o how to espond to, ocope with, them A chapte in The McDonaldization of Socie is devoted to

coping with McDonaldied systems, while a discussion o handling thevaious poblems associated with cedit cads is scatteed thoughout Expressing America Those ae vey mode woks, adopting mode gandnaatives McDonaldiation, Ameicaniation, and so on) and oeing veymode solutions to what ae peceived as mode poblems. Howeve, asthis book has evolved, and the ocus has shited to the new means oconsumption in geneal, the analysis has moved in the diection o postmode social theoy. Since the poblems associated with these new meanshave been descibed in postmode tems, it is necessay to discuss methods

o coping with them in simila tems.This chapte has thee objectives. The st is a bie eview o some o themode methods o dealing with astood estauants and cedit cads, aswell as how well such methods apply to the othe new means o consumption. The second is to examine what some postmode esponses to thesemeans might be Finally, in ode to be moe specic and concete, we willeo in on McUnivesity and discuss moe specic methods o coping with itom both a mode and a postmode pespective

Mdern Cping Methd

Adopting a mode appoach to the analysis o astood estauants andcedit cads leads to a mode sense o how to cope with them and thepoblems associated with them Fo one thing, the esponses tend to behighly ational esponses to what ae lagely seen as poblems that aetaceable to the ational opeation o these systems. Fo anothe, thee is thevey ational tendency to deconstuct the souces o the poblems by levelso analysis and theeoe to suggest esponses that ae specic to each level.

Thee ae mico the individual), meso the goup, oganiation, industy)and maco the society) dimensions to the poblems and coping mechanismsae suggested o each level Finally, thee is a sense that in the end many othese poblems ae iesolvable and that they must pesist Ate all , my ealy




1 64 Th Nw Mans of Consumption

thnkng on th ast-oo staant, an a poton o that on ct cas, sanmat by Wbs mo gan naatv o th nxoabl pogssontowa th on cag o atonalty Lk Wb on s l by ths to th vwthat t s mpotant to spon, bt that alstcally sponss a not gongto matally alt th staton o th vntal otcom.

By, at th maco lvl, copng wth McDonalaton nvolvs otsto alt th lag clt an conomc systm that s sppotv o thpocss At a mo mso lvl, gop pss can b boght to ba aganstMcDonal systms an gops o popl can cat an sppotnon-McDonal altatv systms At th mco lvl, nvals latto McDonalaton ntly so wll spon n nt ways. Thoswho ga McDonalaton as a vlvt cag wll o nothng btwlcom ts owa pogss Thos who s t as a bb cag" wll, nth man, want to tak actons that pmt thm to gt ot o th cag whn

thy so s an allow thm to b s that th a nonMcDonalaltatvs avalabl to thm whn thy want thm Fnally, thos who sMcDonalaton as an on cag can spon n vaos ways. Foxampl, thy can sk to cav ot non-atonal nchs o thmslvsn othws McDonal systms An th s a w ang o actonsboth bg an lttl, that thy can tak to sbvt th systm Howv,ltmatly ths pspctv tns to la to a lng o sgnaton on lsstn to a l that wll b lv mo an mo wthn th conns o thon cag

Tng to ct cas, to th g that McDonalaton s th soco th poblms assocat wth thm, th sam kns o spons applyHowv a ss o oth poblms xcssv nbtnss, a annvason o pvacy s th ocs o attnton n xprssing Amrica anspcc copng mchansms a sggst o ach poblm Agan sncth poblms a mlt-lvl th sponss to thm a tmn by lvlo analyss Fo xampl, n tms o th poblm o xcssv bt,nvals can bcom btt awa o th ang sgnals, can bttnstan th avantags o payng th blls n ll ach month, an cansk ots hlp thy n thmslvs ovwhlm by bt At th mso

lvl, th ct ca nsty col, althogh t s not lkly to, stop ongwhat t ocss on an xcls at awng popl nto ct ca s anct ca bt. At th maco lvl, th govmnt col tak a vaty oactons to stm th wost xcsss o th ct ca compans xamplsncl stants on mal solctatons o vn pttng wang labls, lkthos on cgatt packs on ct cas). Fnally ots col b ma toalt th noms an vals o a clt that ncoags ampant consmsm an bt

Th s obvosly no n to th nmb o atonal sponss that col

b concv to al wth th tansomatons n hgh caton tal nChapt 1 1 . Som aclty mmbs an amnstatos mght choos to sstby vlopng atonal statgs sgn to thwat th vlopmnt oMcUnvsty Oths mght s th tn as nvtabl an vlop smlaly




Dealing with the New Mean o Conumption 6

ratonal stratgs to adapt to th transormaton Stll othrs mght s muchgood n th changs and try to dtrmn ways o xpdtng thr dvlopmnt

Assumng that th changs ar nvtabl th ratonal aculty mmbr (orsomon asprng to such a poston) mght tak crtan stps n prparaton

or thm ncludng bcomng wll vrsd n computr tchnology n gnraland computr lang tchnqus n partcular bcomng adpt at tachngtlvsd courss rconclng hhrsl to th lklhood o tachng at asatllt school rathr than a cntral campus to th lklhood o acadmcl wthout tnur and to an acadmc l o tachng wth lttl or no tmor rsarch. On could go on wth such a lst but th stps ar arlyobvous. In any cas ths ar qut mod stps or dalng wth what sprcvd as a mod problm

Ths knd o mod thnkng could b appld to th othr nw mans o

consumpton (ncludng toursm). W could com up wth a long lst omod ways o rspondng to th problms cratd by amusmnt parksmgamalls cybrmalls and crus lns (among othrs). Such a lst wouldundoubtdly nclud sts o macro- mso- and mcro-lvl rsponss Whlcrtanly usul such an ort s not lkly to b much o a concptualadvanc ovr what has bn dscussd abov and n my prvous workInstad snc ths nw mans o consumpton hav bn analysd rom apostmod prspctv lt us look at what postmod socal thory ladsus to say about mthods o rspondng to thm.

Postmode Responses

Postmod thorsts dnty although on only mplctly a numbr oways o rspondng to th problms assocatd wth postmodsm andmany o thm can b appld to th nw mans o consumpton JanBaudrllard's work s partcularly rch n such rsponss. Ths s somwhatronc snc Baudrllard as wll as postmodsm mor gnrally s otnsn as nhlstc But gvn th grat dvrsty o work that xsts undr thhadng o postmod socal thory t s vrtually mpossbl to mak sucha gnralzaton (or almost any gnralzaton or that mattr) about t. nany cas that gnralzaton crtanly dos not apply to Baudrllard

Whl Baudrllard's work s rch n xplct and mplct rsponss tshould b pontd out that n hs vw t was ar asr to rspond to thmod captalst systm whr th proltarat had a clar advrsary (thcaptalst) than t s to cop wth th postmod cod snc thr s noobvous antagonst assocatd wth t Furthrmor captalst hgmony waslargly rstrctd to th conomy whl th cod s vrywhr t somnprsnt. Thror t s dcult to gur out ways o combatng th

cod and vn on s succssul n on doman problms ar lkly toprsst n many othr aras. Gvn ths cavats lt us look at svral o thrsponss n postmod thory and thr applcaton to th nw mans oconsumpton




The New Mean of Conumption

Like many othe postmodeists and not a ew modeists) Baudilladsees the contempoay wold as plagued with disenchantment In vaiousways he seeks to e-enchant the wold and e-enchantment constitutes a wayo dealing with the excesses o contempoay society. Fo example one othe poblems with exchanges between customes and employees in supe

stoes is that they have lost thei symbolic qualities. This is not only tue othe economic exchange o money o commodities but also o the socialexchanges between customes and employees in these settings which havetaken on a mechanical non-human quality. To put this anothe way a woldo simulation including simulated human elationships) has eplaced symbolic exchanges between humans. This implies that one way o espondingto this and moe geneally to the disenchantment in settings like thesupestoe is by e-establishing symbolic exchange among and betweenwokes and customes Involved in such symbolic elationships is a

continual cycle o giving and eceiving athe than the sel-limiting exchanges that chaacteie such settings. A wide ange o things would needto be exchanged athe than the highly specic and vey limited types oexchange ound in supestoes. Not ust money and goods would beexchanged but also a ange o things like emotions eelings expeiencesknowledge and insight Wok in such settings would involve unlimitedgiving and eceiving. To customes employees in supestoes ae like thedead discussed by Baudillad 197/993) they ae physically sepaatedom customes and pevented by such things as scipts ules and countes)

om engaging in symbolic exchange with customes. In engaging insymbolic exchange with employees customes would be stiking a blowagainst the poweul but agle code that seves to keep both n theiplace.

Similaly Baudillad 97/ 1993 suggests that we espond to thesystem in this case the new means o consumption by oeing it gitswhich it is constitutionally unable to ecipocate. This suggestion comesom his belie that all systems ae based on symbolic exchange and thatsystems which dey such a system o exchange have a atal aw that willultimately pove to be thei downall. In the contempoay wold systemsae set up to give but not eceive o to engage in a highly cicumscibedound o giving and eceiving e.g. poducts o money). The death o thesystem which in Baudillads view is its ate) is hastened i consumesoe it gits it is incapable o etuing. Thus I suppose in the case o theastood estauant we might take to ovepaying o ou ood peomingunpaid and unexpected sevices o those estauants o liteally bingingthem gis on annivesaies and openings. This would make thei inability toengage in symbolic exchange even moe glang and hasten thei downall.How this downall might occu is let unclea by Baudillad but even Max

was moe than a little vague on the details o the communist evolution andthe ovethow o capitalism Unless one buys into Baudillads agumentully it does seem to stain cedulity to believe that such acts as ovepayingo a Big Mac would eopadie the cuent system.




Dealing with the New Means of Consumption 1 7

The ablty o such mnor actons to make a derence let alone brngdown the system s based on Baudrllard's (197/1993) bele that whle tappears to be omnpotent t has n act grown progressvely unstable. Suchmundane actons do n act have the capacty at least n Baudrllard' s vewto topple the hegemony o ast-ood restaurants the system and the code. O

course these actons cannot occur only n ast-ood restaurants or even justn the new means o consumpton but must take place at every ste n whchthe code s represented and recreated (whch o course s close to all notall socal stes)

Payng extra or ood at McDonald' s s related to another o Baudrllard's( 1 97/1993) suggestons reckess expendture Squanderng money on aseres o useless expendtures (a cync mght say that ths s already whatmost consumers do n the postmode socety and culture especallythrough ther abuse o credt cards) s n a sense makng gts to the code

and the system that they do not know what to make o and to whch they areunable to respond Baudrllard beleves that ths lke more specc gts toenttes lke the astood restaurant wll help set the system on a course tose-destructon

ameson's (Stephanson 1989) deas on homeopathc remedes can beappled to the ssue o dealng wth the new means o consumpton Insteado respondng wth thngs postmode systems cannot produce or respond to(lke symbolc exchange) homeopathc remedes nvolve respondng topostmode systems n the same way that they deal wth us usng the

elements o that world to push t to ts lmts and beyond. In ast-oodrestaurants ths mght nvolve ormally ratonal responses to the ormallyratonal system. For example customers mght adhere strctly to al o therules ormal and normal that gove the astood restaurant Suchadherence would be tmeconsumng and demandng o the system and tssta t mght well ause the system to slow to a rawl thereby gvng the leto the label ast ood."

Alteatvely the response to the ecstatc acceleraton o networks"characterstc o McUnversty (and many other new means o consumpton)

may not be to try to be aster than them but to tu nstead to the tortoselke mass o students charactered by nsoluble mmoblty the slowerthan slow nerta and slence nerta nsoluble by eort s lence nsoluble bydalogue" (Baudrllard 1983/1990 8). The masses ncludng students arealways underestmated but ther deep nstnct remans the symbolc murdero the poltca class (Baudrllard 1983/1990 94) One o the ways nwhch the mass o students does ths s by challengng the subject andpushng t back upon ts own mpossble poston" (Baudrllard 198319901 1 3) he mass o students can be seen as a mrror that whch returns the

subect to ts mortal transparency (Baudrllard 1 9831 990 1 1 3) .The world o ast-ood restaurants and many other new means o

consumpton (Prce Club would be another excellent example) may bevewed n Baudrllard's terms (n Gane 1993), as an obscene world n





whch seemngly eveythng s vsble, ndeed hypevsble Note, o example, the vsblty o the oodpepaaton aea n contast to the tadtonalestauant whee the ktchen s almost always hdden om vew o theobvous and abundant tash eceptacles To Baudllad 98/ 990, thetadtonal estauant s a scene" whee some thngs ae hdden whee some

mystey eg. ust how the ood s pepaed how tash s dsposed o)contnues Fastood estauants ae obscene because almost nothng shdden eveythng s vsble A soluton poposed by Baudllad s theetun o some nvsblty, some mystey n othe wods the etun, to useanothe o hs tems, o seducton Instead o hypevsble ast-ood estauants, we need estauants whch etan some, even a geat deal o, mystey.Instead o ast-ood estauants that bludgeon customes nto submsson, weneed estauants whch etan the ablty to seduce, athe than ovewhelm,customes

Take the ssue o the taste o the ood Fast ood tends to ovewhelm outaste buds wth stong and obvous tastes, especally vey sweet and hghlysalty Ou taste buds ae not seduced by a wde vaety o subtle avos, butovewhelmed by a ew stong tastes In contast, o couse, a goumetestauant o a sophstcated home-cooked meal) s oented to seducng outaste buds Even the dco o such estauants s seductve n contast to thebght, loud and poweul colos and decoatons o the typcal ast-oodestauant The logc o Baudllads agument leads us to see the ceatonand patonage o seductve estauants as a way o copng wth the

contempoay woldThs, o couse, easly lends tsel to the accusaton that the postmodenpespectve s eltst Ate all such estauants ae costly to buld and suchmeals usually cost the dne a geat deal o money Howeve one wondeswhethe one could combne low cost and seductveness n a estauant?Moe geneally, ae thee aodable but moe seductve alteatves to thevaous new means o consumpton? Is thee a necessay contadctonbetween cost and seductveness? The answe s no One could pepae aseductve meal at home o less than t would cost to dne at a astoodestauant One could also magne qute a seductve estauant beng bult

o a less than the cost o the aveage ast-ood estauant.Could one go a step uthe and envson a chan o anchsed but stll

genunely seductve, estauants? The answe s undoubtedly no Once onemoves beyond a sngle estauant, to a chan, one s mmedately n the ealmo smulaca. Smulaton s not a chaactestc that Baudllad wouldassocate wth the pocess o seducton. As one tes to nsttutonale andeplcate seducton om one ste to anothe, t loses ts seductve qualtes.Yet the tme wll undoubtedly come when we wll see a chan o estauantsthat oes smulated seducton. The ceatos o such chans wll ecogne

that some segment o the populaton that equents astood estauants stng o beng bludgeoned nto culnay submsson and thee s money to bemade n oeng them smulated seducton, both n the ood and n thesettng





Seduction is related in Baudrillards (983/990 work on te atality ote obects or example tose te customers wo requent ast-oodrestaurants (or utilie te oter means o consumption) Instead o customersbeing constrained by tese restaurants Baudrillard suggests tat it ispossible tat it is te restaurants tat are being led on (seduced) by te

customers (objects) For example te seemingly ever-increasing parade ocustomers is leading te ast-ood cains into endless rounds o expansionand prolieration a game tat will ultimately prove atal as ast-oodrestaurants eventually prolierate beyond teir ability to survive economically. Te same process o course aects all o te oter new means oconsumption To take anoter example millions and millions o people canbe seen as leading te credit card companies on by accepting oer ater oero new credit cards and overture ater overture to increase teir spendinglimit once te old limit as been exceeded. Te result is tat te banks and

credit card rms are extending undreds o billions o dollars in unsecuredcredit Tis could eventually cause tis vast ouse o cards" (literally) tocollapse wen it becomes clear tat tere is no way tat te masses will beable to repay muc o tis debt or even te interest on it

Similarly students can be seen as engaging in a atal strategy by seemingto accept all te canges te postmode educational system trows at temWile we usually tink power resides wit te educational systems it couldbe argued tat it is te mass o students wo ave te power One can evenview tem as snobs delegating te annoying and burdensome tasks o

leaing material and teacing it to oters te elites in carge o education(and oter systems) can be seen as relieving te mass o students o tetiresome process o needing to lea on teir own Furtermore te mass ostudents ave te ironic power o witdrawal o nondesire nonknowledge silence absorption ten expulsion o all powers wills o allenligtenment and depts o meaning" (Baudrillard 1983/1990 99 Insteado lookng at te mass o or example students as alienated unconsciousand repressed Baudrillard argues tat we can see tem as possessing adelusive illusive allusive strategy corresponding to an unconscious tat isnally ironic joyous and seductive" ( 1983/1 990 99

Te silence o te mass o students can be seen not as a sign o teiralienation but o teir power: te silence was a massive reply trougwitdrawal tat te silence was a strategy tey te mass o students intis case] null meaning And tis is truly a power. . Basically teyabsorb all systems and tey reract tem in emptiness" (Baudrillard in Gane1993 878 In oter words te mass o students is anoter black ole" inte socia world Tey are silent because tey are overwelmed witinormation and tere is no way o reversing te ow o tat inormation (Inact we are not to tink o te mass o students as a social penomenon

(ater all to Baudrillard te social is dead) involving millions o people butas an inertial orm" created by te overwelming ood o inormation)Tus te strategy o silence o inertia. Te silence o te mass o students i satal. It i s one o teir atal strategies strategies tat indicate tat te object




70 The New Mean of Conumption

is mo subt mo ngnous tan t subjct Gan 1991 174)Ultimatly ts atal statgis ad t wod o ig ducation in tdiction o a downwad spial o t wost outcoms into catastopicoutcoms Gan 199 1 207) T victoy o t studnt masss wil l not ba dazzling voluton but obscu and ionc It won't b dialctical it wi

b atal Baudillad 1 98 990 96) It will not b volution but . . amassiv devolution a massiv dlgation o pow and sponsibility . . Massiv de-volition and witdawa o t will Baudillad 198199097)

Baudillad blivs tat suc atal statgis wil ad t wold into anv-spialing downwad tajctoy tat wi nd only in catastop o tsystm and t cod. T ata statgis o t vil gnis t massswill not lad to vouton in t taditional gand-naativ sns o ttm but to a gadual dvolution as t cod and t systm on wic it is

built and wic sustans t gadually unavs.As to ooking o agnts t masss as objcts cannot b sn as agnts)to spond to t nw mans o consumpton on can point to tos woav avoidd ti pvasv psnc and inunc. T poblm is tat int Unitd Stats and n many ot pats o t wold it is dicult toidnty vy many wo av bn abl to avoid ti cts T youngtos most iky n most conditions to om t bas o a volutonaymovmnt a t most pooundy actd by t inunc o t nwmans o consumpton T woking class t taditiona volutionaysubjct would b smlaly actd and n any cas would av no obviousmatial ason to b in t vanguad o suc a volution On can onlyop tat isoatd pockts o popl lativly immun to t inunc ot nw mans o consumption say t Ams) can povid t bas o asocia movmnt wos objctiv is at last to limit ti impact.

Baudiad sms to od out op n spc as contastd to discouswic is contod by t cod. Tos xcudd by t cod suc as tmass o studnts can b toug ti us o spc But is notaguing o som ultimat massiv outpoung o studnts o ots) againstt cod. W ougt not to wait o suc a utu ac man is totally t

at ac instant. T utopa is n all t ngis tat a aisdagainst political conomy . . . Utopia . wants ony t spokn wod andit wants to os its in t Baudillad 1971975 1667)

Mo pomsng is t postmodn ida tat t voution is not t gandpoduct o a goup o voutionay agnts but tat suc a volution ispossib vn ncssay and now n t vyday pactics oindviduas. In postmod tms spcially in t wok o Dida 978)vyon a o t tim as t capacty to wit tat is to catinnovativ sponss to t cod and mo spcic oppssiv stuctus.

By o xamp dmanding tngs o ast-ood stauants tat ty do notwant to dlv a a ambug xta-bown nc is) popl angaging in a om o witing tat can alt t natu o t astoodstauant and paps utimaty t cod Caly w a takng o





mllons o very specc behavors repeated over and over agan nFoucauldan terms we are talkng about nnumerable mcro-lnes o resstance.

The revolt o the masses n general and the mass o students n partcularwll be much lke the vctory o cancer cells (another obect) over the body.

Both can be seen as uncontrollable undscplned non-dalectcal andsublmnal. Both cancer and the student masses are hypertelc In thermndless lmtless ncrease the student masses wll destroy the educatonalsystem n the same way that cancer cells destroy the physcal body

Whle Baudrllard sees hope n the mass he reects the grand narratve othe Marxsts (and others) who envsoned a grand culmnaton n theoverthrow o the captalst system. Baudrllard ( 1983/ 990 24) concludeswe are no longer n the age o grandose collapses and resurrectons ogames o death and etety but o lttle ractal events smooth annhlatons

and gradual sldes" Thus or example McUnversty wll not be destroyedwth a bang but n a seres o whmpers.A related set o actons would nvolve scramblng the sgns assocated

wth the code Baudrllard ( 98/ 989) sees grat artsts as playng thsrole wthn the cty but what orm mght t take n a settng lke the ast-oodrestaurant? Grat on the walls o the local McDonald's would certanlyrepresent an assault on ts etsh or cleanlness and more generally on t asa system Another example mght nvolve a delberate msreadng o thesgns that domnate the ast-ood restaurant. People mght come n and st

down and wat or servce rather than ollowng the code and watng n lneto order ther own ood Or people mght do the latter but then leave therood on the counter ndcatng an expectaton that the ood be delvered tothem Takng one's tme whle decdng what to order or slowly wendngone's way through and out o the drve-through would be hghly eectvedevces. These eorts to scramble the code (Deleue and Guattar( 1 972/1 983) also seek ths goal through schoanalyss and the schophrencprocess) at the ast-ood restaurant mght serve to destable what as we'veseen Baudrllard regards as an already ragle system.

Ultmately Baudrllard avors any sort o ndetermnacy as a way orespondng to the determnacy o the code wth ts reproducton and endlessrepetton. Death not as a nal event but as a model o ndetermnacy sBaudrllard's (197/1993) paradgm or respondng to the system. Ths ocourse does not mean that people should take to dyng n droves n shoppngmalls or on cruse shps but t does mean that any sort o ndetermnacywould dsrupt the smooth operaton o the system and the code Morespeccally Baudrllard recommends that we nect some rsk some smallmeasure o death nto otherwse metculously regulated systems lke astood restaurants Ths suggests a range o actons anywhere rom takng the

chance and orderng a Bg Mac wthout specal sauce to actually eschewngastood restaurants and takng the plunge and preparng a meal romscratch at home Once agan we are n the realm o nntesmal lnes oescape" (Deleue and Guattar 1972/1983) but they are all that s avalable




1 72 The New Mean of Consumption

n an poch whn th grat rvolutons ar dmd no longr possbl ordsrabl.

Dlu and Guattars das on rng dsr and th dsrng machnwould t hr That s th mga-mall and th rvouton n th mans oconsumpton o whch t s part would b sn as constranng such dsr n

a Wbran ron cag. Waknng dstablng and ultmatly dstroyngths procss and such sttngs would hlp r dsr Lbratd dsr wouldwrak havoc on th cod

Many o th rsponss dscussd thus ar may b combnd undr thhadng o th strngth o th wak Gnosko 994) That s most o thactors and actons covrd hr ar qut wak spcally gvn th powro th cod and mor gnrally postmod socty. Howvr customrsth masss grat artsts vn chldrn drv strngth rom thr waknss. In th man thy ar abl to absorb vrythng th systm throws at

thm thrby lurng th systm nto rskr and mor dsprat orays.Evntually th systm grows so rcklss and ovrxtndd that th slghtstdsrupton woud caus t to collaps Thr s no bttr xampl o ths thanth hundrds o bons o doars o uncollatrald crdt xtndd to thmasss by th crdt card compans Th masss accpt vry nw card andvry ncras n th crdt lmt ord to thm Mony s bng thrown atthm and thy do not nd to put up any collatral. Whl thr crdt carddbt rss thr s no paralll ncras n thr ablty to rpay th dbt nth ntrm th masss w hav usd all o th crdt ord thm.

As or ntlctuals thy nd to adopt an ronc stanc toward McUnvrsty. Ths mans that thy should mbrac contradctons . . xrcsrony tak h oppo ak po r and rvrbly vn y n th ac o th lawul and th actual Baudrllard 990 993 39)Th lattr s rlatd to pataphyscs or th us o scnc cton to tu thducatonal systm aganst tsl. Obvously thr s no concrt rvolutonary stratgy hr thortcal rathr than practcal volnc s nvolvdThr s no actua mpact but could w xpct any n a postmodducatonal world domnatd by mags and sgns?

Whl th majorty o th rsponss dscussd n ths scton ar nonratona or rratonal thr ar mor ratona rsponss to b ound npostmod socal thory On xampl s Jamsons (1989) suggston thatwhat w nd ar nw cogntv maps Adrt n th hyprspac opostmodty w nd nw knds o guds to hlp us nd our way Thsclarly appls to such nw mans o consumpton as hotl-casnos crusshps and mga-malls . Th nd or nw maps also mans that w nd andnd to do nw knds o socal analyss and crtqus o th world o thnw mans o consumpton. In addton w nd maps that wll hlp us ndth ncrasngy scarc altatvs to thos thngs.

A mor ratonal task manly or scholars and ntllctuals would b tongag n amsons ( 1 99 ; Bst 989) transcodng. That s a scholar canxamn what on can say thnk and do n or xamp th ast-oodrstaurant and compar and contrast hat to th possblts n othr systms




Deaing with the New Means f Cnsumptin 73

say the ktchen o a tradtonal French restaurant). Such a contrast mghtpont up the problems n the ast-ood restaurant as well as some alteatvesto t.

In sum, the postmode perspectve does not lead us to a clear andcoherent set o procedures or dealng wth the new means o consumpton

Rather we are oered a number o theoretcally normed hnts aboutresponses to these systems In the man, the sense one has s that theseresponses wll occur not because conscous agents determne that theyshould occur, but rather because they are ated to occur Whle a postmodest mght be satsed wth ths a modest mght want to exploreths set o deas or nsghts to be used n the moblaton o agents aganstthe excesses o the new means o consumpton.

Ntes

Ths chpe s deved fom seve soces - n essy n Sial Weeappe; n InvedPeny Addess o he Popl Sdes Confeence Tmpee nnd n y 1 996; pesenon he nn meengs of he Amecn Socoogc Assocon New o Cyn Ags 996 nd peny ddess he emms of Mss Hghe Edcon confeenceSffodshe Unvesy Sffodshe Englnd n Apl 996.

o moe on he hee vews of hese cges see Rze ( 996 -9.2 ven hogh s we hve seen McUnvesy foces sdens o do moe nd moe on

he own. Noneheess mch of wh hey do hs been peplnned by edcos.3 Mos posmode socl heoss wod eec he de of n gen e one sech fo

one




IV

McDONALDIZATION REDUX

1 3

Some Concludng Thoughts on theMcDonaldzaton Thess

Whle ths book began wth a seres o chapters dealng wth the McDonaldaton thess and more han hal o has been devoted to explctexploraons and exensons o ha thess n the last several chapters wehave moved progressvely away rom a ocs on McDonaldaton per eand n the drecton o an analyss o the new means o consmpton Whlethe astood restarant and other McDonalded systems) has been ocontnng neres as one o those new means o consmpton) heMcDonaldaon hess ha s the dea hat as Weber predced) socety

and he world are growng progressvely raonaled and charactered bythe predomnance o ecency calclablty predcablty and control bynonhman technologes (as well as he vaos raonales o raonay)has ended o recede nto he backgrond In hs nal chaper I wold lke obrng hat thess to the oregrond once agan and explore a ange o ssesreated to

The De-McDnaldizatin f Sciety?

Perhaps no dea wold seem more exreme at least rom the perspecve othe McDonaldaton hess han he noon tha we are already begnnng tosee sgns o deMcDonaldaton An even more heretcal argmen woldo corse be ha the process never occrred n he rst pace. However hesocal world has certanly changed and one o the ways o conceptalng aleast some o hose changes s n erms o ncreasng ratonalatonFrthermore sch a vew wold mean a rejecon o one o the srongest andmost drable socal heores one ha has no ony endred b grownhrogh he work o sch venerable socal hnkers as Weber and Mannhem

as well as that o many conemporary socal analyss.) I hs s n act thecase hen McDonaldaton wold seem to be a concept that may have madesome sense a a parcar me (and place) bt that seems o be n heprocess o beng sperseded by recent developments. I McDonaldaon




Some Concluding Thoughts 1 75

has already passed ts peak, then ts worh and utlty as a undamentalsoologal onept are severely, perhaps atally, undermned. What evdene an be marshalled n suppor o the dea that we are seeng sgns ode-MDonaldzaton?

The rst s the at that MDonalds tsel, whle stll the star o the ast

ood ndustry and ontnung to grow rapdly, s experenng some dultes and does not qute have the luster t one dd. I MDonalds s havngproblems, that may all nto queston the onept whh bears ts name andts mprnt. The strongest evdene on these dultes s the nreasnghalenge to MDonalds n the hghly ompettve Ameran market.Indeed, the ompetton has grown so keen that MDonalds ous n termso prots and uture expanson has shted overseas, where t remans anunparalleled suess. Reetve o MDonads problems n the UntedStates s the reent and muh ballyhooed ntroduton o the Arh Deluxe

(Rhman, 1 996). A great deal o MDonad s past suess, espealy n theUnted States, has been based on ts appeal to hldren through ts lowns,playgrounds, promotons and ood. However, n reent years MDonald shas beome onvned that n order to protet ts pre-emnent poston n theAmeran market t has to beome more adult-orented and to oer moreadult oods. Hene the Arh Deluxe bgger than a Bg Ma, lettue peesrather than shreds, tanger Djon-style mustard, and so on. Whether or notMDonalds sueeds wth the Arh Deluxe (and the early ndatons arenot promsng), or any other new produt or promoton, the at s that

MDonald s reognzes, and s tryng to deal wth, problems on ts homeeld And, MDonads ontnues to lose market share and hegemonywthn the Ameran market, an troube n other markets around the worldbe ar behnd?

A seond worrsome trend to MDonalds, and potental threat toMDonaldzaton, s the at that MDonads s beomng a negatvesymbol to a number o soa movements throughout the world. Thosegroups that are strugglng to deal wth eologal hazards, detary dangers,the evls o aptalsm and the dangers posed by Ameranzaton (and, as wew see below, many other problems) oen take MDonald s as a symbol othese problems, espeally sne t an easy be related to all o themFurhermore, these groups an mount a varety o attaks on the ompany asa whole (eg natonal and nteatonal boyotts o MDonalds produts),as well as the 20,000 (as o ths wrtng) or so MDonads outets aroundthe world Suh outets make easy, attratve and ready avalable targets orall sorts o dssdent groups.

Muh o the hostlty towards MDonald s has rystallzed n reent yearsaround the so-alled MLbel tral n London. MDonalds sued vepeople assoated wth London Greenpeae or dstrbutng a pamphlet,

Whats Wrong wth MDonalds? Everythng They Dont Want You toKnow" Three o the ve members apologzed rather than ae potentalrun, but two others, Davd Morrs and Helen Steel, deded to ontest thesut. The ase, the longestrunnng bel tral n the hstory o Great Brtan,




6 McDonaldiation Redux

ended ambiguously in June 199 wih he judge nding or McDonald's onmos issues bu subsaniaing some o he claims agains he company.

Among oher hings he pamphle aacked McDonalds (and America)or economic imperialism misuse o resources by causing he inecien useo large amouns o grain in he creaion o a ar smaller quaniy o bee

conribuing o deoresaion pushing an unhealhy die on consumersseducing children ino being McDonalds habius being responsible orcruely o animals providing poorly paid deadend jobs and so on Thepamphle (and he libel case dealing wih i) has become somehing o acause clbre There is a worldwide web sie which keeps ineresed pariesapprised o he case More imporanly i keeps a wide variey o people andgroups around he world inormed abou acions by and againsMcDonald's and he oher as-ood resaurans. In addiion many oherrelaed issues (e.g. environmenal healh) are he subjec o communiqus

hrough he web sieAs a resul a leas in par o he McLibel rial McDonald's has become

he symbolic enemy or many groups including environmenaliss animalrighs organizaions anicapialiss ani-Americans supporers o he ThirdWorld hose conceed abou nuriional issues hose ineresed in deending children he labor movemen and many more. I all o hese groups canconinue o see many o he problems o conce o hem combined wihinMcDonald's hen here is a real long-erm danger here o McDonalds Thisproblem would be grealy exacerbaed i some or all o hese groups were o

come ogeher and joinly oppose McDonalds. Once and perhaps sill hemodel (in a posiive sense) corporaion in he eyes o many McDonald's isnow in danger o becoming he paradigm or all ha is bad in he world inhe eyes o many ohers.

Ye anoher hrea o McDonalds sems rom he diculy any corporaion has in saying on op indeniely McDonald' s may well survive he wohreas discussed above bu sooner or laer inernal problems (eg decliningpros and/or sock prices) exeal compeiion or some combinaion ohe wo will se McDonald's on a downward course which will end in i

becoming a pale imiaion o he presen powerhouse While ar less likelyi is also possible ha hese acors will even lead o is complee disappearance

However we mus no conuse hreas o McDonald's wih dangers o heprocess o McDonaldizaion McDonalds could disappear omorrow wihew i any serious implicaions or he coninuaion o McDonaldizaionMcDonald's will almos undoubedly disappear a some poin in he uurebu by hen he McDonaldizaion process will likely be even more deeplyenrenched in American sociey and hroughou much o he world In he

evenualiy ha McDonalds should some day be down or even ou we mayneed o nd a new paradigm and even a new name or he process bu haprocess (generically he raionalizaion process) will coninue almos cerainly a an acceleraing rae





But is't there a ariety o coutertreds that seem to add up to moretha a threat to Mcoalds? to a threat to the process o Mcoaldizatioitsel? Seeral such treds are orth discussig

For oe thig there is the apparet rise o small oMcoaldizedbusiesses The major example i my area the suburbs o Washigto C

is the opeig o may small highquality bakeries. There seems to be areasoably large umber o people ho are illig to trael some distacead to pay relatiely high prices or quality breads made by highly skilledbakers Ad there seems to be moey to be made by such eterprisigbakers O course bakeries are ot the oly example (arious healthcoscious ood emporiums ould be aother there are may oMcoaldized small busiesses to be oud throughout society

Such eterprises hae alays existed ideed they ere ar more commoplace beore the recet explosie groth o Mcoaldized systems

Uder pressure rom Mcoaldized competitors they seemed to hae all butdisappeared i may sectors oly to reappear at least i part as a couterreactio to Mcoaldizatio. While they exist ad may ee be groig itis dicult to see these alteaties as a serious threat to Mcoaldizatio.The likelihood is that they ill succeed i the iterstices o a otherisehighly Mcoaldized society I ay oe o them shos sigs o beig omore tha margial importace it ill quickly be take oer ad eorts illbe made to Mcoaldize it It is dicult to eisio ay other sceario.

Recetly it has bee argued that a Ne Regioalism has deeloped i

the Uited States ad that it costitutes a quiet rebellio agaistMcoaldizatio (Myerso 199 Idetied here is a series o distictieregioal treds ashios ad products that are aectig the atio adultimately the orld. Oe example oered by Myerso is a salsa origiatigi Sa Atoio Texas ad mauactured by Pace Foods While certaily aoMcoaldized regioal product at least at rst the salsa i act thecompay as purchased by Campbell Soup Compay i 1995 or just oer$1 billio Oer time it ill surely become just aother Mcoaldizedproduct marketed by Campbell Soup It ill probably suer the ate oColoel Saders's origial Ketucky Fried Chicke ad may other products that at rst ere highly origial ad distictie but oer time eretued ito pale Mcoaldized imitatios o hat they oce ere

Aother example oered by Myerso is Elk Moutai Red Lager ad ElkMoutai Amber Ale These soud like ad reect the groig importaceo the products o local microbreeries but i act they are produced bythe massie AheuserBusch compay Furthermore they are made rom thesame hops as Budeiser ad Michelob AheuserBusch is o course tryigto capitalize o the success o local ad regioal microbreeries What theyare i act doig is Mcoaldizig microbreery beer

Myerso cites the preseratio o cities like Saaah Georgia as yetaother example o the e regioalism but he quickly moes o to thedeelopmet o iseyesque simulacra like the Atlata restauratPittypat's Porch hich is amed ater Scarlett O'Hara's aut i the book




8 McDonadization Redux

and movie, Gone With he Wind He also menions he movie-se" NewYork ha is currenly emerging in he resusciaion o Times Suare (and inwhich Disney has a sake) Such examples seem ar more supporive o heMcDonaldizaion hesis (as wel as o a posmodernis perspecive, especially he emphasis on simulacra) han any couner-hesis

Myerson is correc in arguing ha many o Americas innovaions owrom oulying regions He akes his as evidence o a rend ha runs counero he ideas o homogenizaion and McDonaldizaion. However, he ignoreshe ac ha regional creaions ha show any sign o success are uicklyMcDonaldized (examples incude spicy New Orleans syle cookng(Popeyes); souhwesern Tacos (Taco Bell)). McDonaldized sysems do noexcel a innovaion hey are a heir es in implemening and raionalizingideas semming rom oher sources Thus, innovaions are always highlylikely o emerge ouside o McDonaldized sysems This represens one o

he dangers o McDonaldizaion As we move closer and closer o he ironcage, where are he innovaions o he uure o come rom?McDonalds ise has developed a sysem or coping wih is lack o

innovaiveness Aer al, he creaions ha have generally owed rom hecenral oce (or example McDonald s Hula Burger a un wih wo sliceso cheese surrounding a sice o grilled pineapple) have no een noalysuccessul is he ideas ha have semmed rom he ranchisees in he eld(he ileish a McDonald, or example) ha have een he mosimporan innovaions

Anoher counerrend worh noing is he rise o McDonaldized sysemsha are ale o produce high-ualiy producs. The maor example is helarge and as-growing chain o Sarucks coee shops (Wichel, 199.Unil recenly, virually all successul McDonaldized sysems have eennoed or characerisics like ow price and high speed, u no or he highualiy o he goods and services ha hey oer McDonaldizaion hashereoore een largely synonymous wih mediocriy in hese areas.Sarucks has shown ha i is possile o creae a McDonaldized sysem hadispenses ualiy producs; on he surace, his poses a proound challenge oMcDonaldizaion and, more generally, o he McDonaldizaion hesis

However, Sarucks is, in many ways, an aypical chain or one hing, isells variaions on wha is essenially one simpe produc coee oranoher, i is relaivey easy, especialy wih advanced sysems and echnologies, o consisenly produce a good cup o coee. Third, he parons oSarucks are willing o pay a relaively large sum o money or a good cupo coee. In ac, i may we cos as much o ge a cup o designer coee"a Sarucks as o have lunch a McDonalds Thus, Sarucks indicaes hai i possile o McDonaldize ualiy when we are dealing wih one (orperhaps a ew) simple producs, when here are echnologies ha ensure high

and consisen ualiy, and when enough parons are willing o pay relaivelylarge amouns o money or he produc Clearly, mos chains are not ale omee hese condiions wih he resul ha hey are likely o remain ohMcDonaldized and mediocre I is also imporan o rememer ha even





with th kind dirnc dicud abv pciall in qualitStarbuck cntinu t b McDnaldizd in man wa (th dirnt tp cup c ar prdictabl rm n tim r plac t anthr)Hwvr thi i nt t a that thr ar nt mr chain that will mt thcnditin numratd abv and llw Starbuck' mdl W alrad

thi in th rt tp tward th cratin high-qualit rtaurant chainA varit mdratl pricd rtaurant chain bad n th McDnald'

mdl hav lng inc prung up including Sizzlr Bnanza Oliv GardnGIFrida' and Rd Lbtr In act uch chain nw cntrl 35 prcnt what i calld th mdratl pricd caual markt (Bulkl 199) Incntrat chain accunt r 77 prcnt lw-pricd rtaurant mal. Farbhind with nl 1 prcnt th markt ar chain (actuall at thi lvlth prr t b calld rtaurant grup) invlvd in th high-pricdlinn tablclth" buin whr th avrag patrn' bill ar in xc

$25 Ntabl xampl includ high-nd takhu chain lik Mrtn' Chicag (33 rtaurant) and Ruth' Chri Stak Hu (50 rtaurant). Thchallng in th utur i t pn high-nd chain rtaurant that d ntpcializ in rlativl a t prpar tak Lurd b th pibilit larg prt vral grup ar tring Fr xampl Wlgang Puck ntdr hi gurmt Spag rtaurant in L Angl ha pnd branchrtaurant in San Francic and La Vga (in th highl McDnaldizdMGM Grand Htl) and plan anthr r Chicag Th prblm i that uchrtaurant dpnd n a crativ ch and it i nt immdiatl clar that n

can McDnaldiz crativit indd th tw appar t b antithtical. Saidn rtauratur Th qutin i can n tak a ch-drivn cncptt a cit withut a ch? (Bulkl 1 99 B ) Th ditr GourmetMagaine rai anthr iu abut uch chain; n that g t th hart McDnaldizatin and it limitatin

It omonzton of cn Evn omn ood Moton ko nvt t on o b t m ml n Cco t wold bn Wnton om pop wo vl t fct yo ll wyt ood m Bt tr ot wo w m ndvdy wondl rpr o dcovn nw rt plc o t (Fol 1 996b 3)

In th cntxt high-nd rtaurant chain it i uul t dicu ananalg btwn Frd and Frdim and McDnald' and McDnaldizatinIn th arl da th ma prductin car ppl had littl r nchic thr wa virtuall n variatin in th numbr and qualit car.Ovr th ar cur and pciall tda in th ra pt-Frdimppl hav acquird a grat dal chic a ar a thir autmbil arcncd. Thr ar man kind chic t b mad but n i crtainlhigh-qualit car (Mrcd Bnz r BMW) vru tandard-qualit (FrdEcrt r Plmuth Nn) car Hwvr th ar all mad uing tandard

izd part and ambl-lin tchniqu. hat i highqualit car can bprducd uing Frdit tchniqu

A paralll pint can b mad abut McDnald' and McDnaldizatin Init arl ar th cu at-d rtaurant wa n th mt mundan




80 McDonaldization Redux

standardized prodcts. While varios astood chains competed or bsiness, they all oered the same relatively owqality, standardized prodct.Today, however people are demanding more choices in oods, incldinghigher qality oods that do not case them to sacrice the advantages oMcDonaldization. st as we can prodce a Mercedes Benz sing Fordist

principles, we can oer highqality qiche sing the tenets o McDonaldization The ony thing that stands in the way o a chain o restarants thatoers a range o high-qality qiches is the likelihood that there isinscient demand or sch a prodct.

As discssed in the case o Starbcks, it is possible to McDonaldize anyprodct, even the highestqality prodcts, at least to some degree Thesecret is to oer one prodct, or at most a limited nmber and range oprodcts What seems to dey McDonaldization is the essence o a nerestarant a range o well prepared dishes changing rom day to day on the

basis o the avaiability o high-qality ingredients and/or the whims o theskilled che. This kind o creativity and variability contines to resistMcDonaldization.

The move into high-qality prodcts leads s to qestion one o the basictenets o McDonaldization calclability, or the emphasis on qantity otento the detriment o qality This is certainly tre o virtally all McDonaldized systems that we have known, bt it is not necessarily tre o Starbcks,or o simiar ndertakings that we are likey to see in the tre We will seebsinesses where large amonts o highqality qiche (to take one possi

bility) wil be prveyed Dont get me wrong here I think that mostMcDonaldized systems wi contine to oreit qality in the prsit oqantity high speed, low cost, ow price owever, McDonaldization, likeFordism, is changing and we will see more systems that are capable ocombining qantity and qality.

Does this mean that st as we have moved into a postFordist era, we willsoon be entering an epoch o postMcDonaldization To some degree wewill, bt st as I think that the argment or post-Fordism is overblown, Iwold not psh the postMcDonaldization thesis too ar st as todayspost-Fordist systems are heavily aected by Fordism, tomorrow's postMcDonadized systems wil contine to be powerly aected byMcDonaldization

Starbcks (and the edgling high-qality restarant chains) deviates romother McDonadized systems argey on one dimension (calclability, or theemphasis on qantity rather than qality), bt what o the other dimensionsCan we conceive o sccessl chains that deviate rom the model in otherways For example, cold one bild a chain on the basis o ineciency (Inact, as I write this, Chiis is rnning a nationwide television ad campaigncaiming that it is not an assemby-line operation; that it is a monment to

ineciency) Or npredictability Or on the se o hman rather than nonhman technology A o these seem nlikely. Bt, there might come a timewhen most systems are so highy McDonaldized that a large market emergesamong those who crave a respite A chain o inecient, labor-intensive




Some Concludng Thoughts 1 8 1

outlet oerng unpredctble good nd ervce ght be ble to crve out nche or tel under uch crcutnce However, uch chn wucceul, t would quckly coe under preure to McDonldze Theprdocl chllenge would be to McDonldze thng lke necency ndunpredctblty roncl ly, t could be done chn tht ecently

net necency one whch predctbly unpredctble, unorlyderent, nd o on. even hve ne or th propoed chn MHp' (M Hp would be burger nd re chn, but there could lobe tekhoue twn M Stek' . )

gne, or eple, chn o returnt tht rtonlze necencyn potode ter one tht produce ulted necency A ere oprocedure to hndle necency would be creted; procedure degned tottrct cutoer ed up wth ecent yte Thee procedure would bebroken down nto ere o routne tep whch would then be coded nd

de prt o the copny nul. New eployee would be tught thetep needed to peror necently n the end, we would hve returntchn tht h rtonlzed necency On cue, or eple, counterperon t M Hp' would eortlely pll n order o (perhp ke) reon the counter Levng de the whcl eple, t clerly poble tortonlze the eengly rrtonl nd to produce yte tht ght wellhve redyde rket n hghly McDonldzed ocety t would oerore un, ore pectcle, thn the run-o-the-ll t-ood returntAnd pectcle oten een key eleent o the potode world

(Debord, 19; Fethertone, 1991). t certnly n tune wth trend lkeL Vegzton nd McDneyztonM Hp' would lo oer rnge o product tht were, or t let

eeed, unpredctble. The hpe o the hburger (M Hp' wouldcertnly need to oer hburger) would be unorly derent nted obeng perectly round (or n the ce o Wendy ', qure) the burger wouldbe rregulrly hped The hpe would not be let to chnce A vrety oold would be ued to -produce everl derent type o burger wthlghtly derent hpe (th the nekerzton prncple to be dcued beow) Whle the burger would look derent, the derencewould not be gret enough to ect the ee wth whch they could becooked nd erved t would tll be poble to produce nd ell uchburger wthn the contet o McDonldzed yte. For eple, llburger would t wthn the e-hped bun Whle the bun ght renunorly round, t could be de unorly rregulr n other wy (oreple n the hll nd crevce on the top o the bun) Slr rregulrte could be bult nto the hke (whch could vry n teture) re ndchcken nugget (whch could vry n length wthout ectng unorryng te), nd o on.

Another potentl thret to McDonldzton le n the re o cutozton, or wht h been clled nekerzton (Goldn et , 1994)here conderble evdence tht we hve entered pot-ndutrl er nwhch the oveent wy ro the knd o tndrdzed, one-ze-t-




82 MDonalization Reux

al" prdcs, ha are a he hear McDnaldized sysems. Insead, whawe see is mch mre csmizain. Tre csmizain (e made-measre sis is n easily amenale McDnaldizain, ha is nwha is sally mean y csmizain in his cnex Raher, i is mreniche markein, which sneakerizain" is an excellen example Tha is,

insead ne r a ew syles sneakers r rainers, we nw hae hndreds dieren syles prdced r aris niches in he marke (rnners,walkers, aeric exercisers, and s n. This, crse, is n re csmizain; sneakers are n ein made measre r a specic ser.

The cenral pin is ha sneakerizain des not reec a rend ward deMcDnaldizain Lare cmpanies like ike prdce hndreds hsands r een millins each ype sneaker wih he resl ha each isamenale a McDnaldized prdcin (as wel as markein, disriinand sales sysem In ac, ne re direcin r McDnaldizain inles

is applicain prdcs and serices ha are sld in smaler and smallerqaniies There is ndedly sme asle lwer limi elw which i isn prale McDnaldize (a leas a hih deree, i is dicl speciy wha ha limi mih e wih any precisin. In any case, ha limiwill ecme lwer and lwer wih rher echnlical adances Tha is,we wil l e ale apply ecnmies scale increasinly small prdcinrns Mre and dieren sneakers, mre sneakerizain, d n represensinican hreas McDnaldizan.

A similar armen can e made a wha has een ermed mass

csmizain" (Pine 993 Take he case Csm F Wespr,Cnnecic (McHh, 996) There, a csmer ps a in anelecrnic scanner ha measres i n 4 dieren dimensins hen acnrain is cmpleed n a cmper screen wih he aid a salespersn I is drin his phase ha he csmer chses hins like syle she, ype and rade eaher, clr, linin, and s n. Cmper swarehen ranslaes all his in a se specicains ha are ransmied scnracrs in seeral ciies in Ialy The shes are cled and sen he USA wihin w hree weeks The cs ranes rm $99 $250 ahe same price as ready-wear shes r sale in d ew Yrk she

sres. In cnras, radiinal csmmade shes mih cs $ 1 200 and akeseeral mnhs arrie In shr, Csm F is McDnaldizin heprcess makin and sellin rly csmized shes

w clearly his is less McDnaldized han he mass prdcin hsands, r een miins, he same she Mass prdcin is mreecien, i permis reaer predicailiy, mre i is amenale qaniicain, and i relies mre n nn-hman echnlies han he csmizedprdcin shes, een he way Csm She des i Hweer, heprcedres a Csm She are ar mre McDnaldized han he radiinal

mehds prdcin csmized shes We are alkin here, as is sallyhe case, a derees McDnaldizain. Csm She has applied heprinciples McDnaldizain he prdcin and sale csm shes.The nare is prdc, especially in cmparisn he mass prdcin




Some Conclding Thoght 1 83

identical shoes, liits the degree to which it can McDonaldize, but it doesnot affect the fact that it is being McDonaldized.

Thus two of the directions in the future of McDonaldization are theproduction and sale of goods and serices in increasingly sall quantitiesand of goods that are higher in quality. While these are new directions, they

do not represent deMcDonaldization Howeer, seeral other deelopentsdiscussed n this chapter could be taken as indicatie of such a trend

The Casefor McDnaldizatin

While I readily acknowledge the adantages of McDonaldization (Ritzer,199a 113), what I hae ephasized are the probles associated withthis process In this section, I want to tu the arguent around, at leastbriey, and ake at least soe of the case for McDonaldization

The strongest point to be ade is that McDonaldization has brought anarray of goods and serices to large nubers of people who otherwise wouldnot hae been able to get the, or would hae had a great deal of trouble indoing so This is true of those in any sall towns and rural areas in theUnited States and it is especially true of those who dwell in any regionsoutside the United States. While the great dangers associated withMcDonaldization are hoogeneity and unifority, it could be argued thatany people hae experienced greater diersity as a result of McDonaldization. For exaple, an inhabitant of a sall Aerican town ight now hae

easy access, perhaps for the rst tie, to pizza or tacos. Siilarly, a residentof Beijing, while stll haing a wide range of indigenous foods to choosefro, is now also able to eat McDonald's haburgers, pizza fro Pizza Hutand the fare offered at Kentucky Fried Chicken

McDonaldization has also led to the creation of an enorous nuber ofnew jobs Furtherore, McDonaldized systes often proide career laddersto those who otherwise ight not hae uch, if any, career obility. Oneght start out as a counterperson, or a haburger aker, but one can hopeto oe up the hierarchy and becoe an assistant anager, a anager, andultiately een a franchise owner Franchises hae been particularly good atproiding jobs and upward obility for inority group ebers.

It could also be argued that McDonaldization fosters deocratization,since McDonaldized goods and serices hae tended, at least thus far, to berelatiely inexpensie. We will hae ore to say about this later in thischapter

Another arguent in faor of McDonaldization is that it constitutes nothreat to indigenous culture China, for exaple, is not going to see itsculture radically altered by the inasion of McDonaldized systes Morelikely, it will force these systes to adapt to Chinese culture, to becoe

ore local It will also generate its own McDonaldized systes, undoubtedly bearing a strong Chinese iprint

It is also possible to see McDonaldized systes not as iron cages but asliberating forces. For exaple, they hae liberated any fro the tyranny of




1 84 MDonaldzaton Redux

makeing or an cookng amily meals Tey ave elpe o ree manymoers so a ey can ener or remain in e ork orl Tey avegiven reirees a place o go an mee i rens Tey ave libeaeeenagers om epenency on e amly meal Many oul say a peopleave in e main been se ree no enslave by McDonalzaon.

Te basc imensons o McDonalizaion ecency preicabiliycalculabil iy an e subsiuion o non-uman or uman ecnology can(an soul) be seen as avanages o McDonalize sysems. Vruallyeveyone as been rusrae by inecen sysems an mos oul ingeneal pree eciency o ineciency Unpreicabily can be un buere are imes en all o us oul pee o be sure a a e an isin ac available Calculabiliy as many aspecs bu o selec one as ageneral rule e oul preer o be able o ge a lo o someing a relavelylile cos. Fnally all o us ave been avanage by a ie array o non

uman ecnologies Tere are cerainly poeul easons bein epenomenal go an sprea o McDonalizaion; bein y so manysysems ave soug o become McDonalie.

Obviously many more ings coul be sai on beal o McDonalizaion. Acknoleging suc posiive acors I coninue o believe a i ismy responsbiliy as a socal scienis o empasize e poblems associaei McDonalzaion Tis s parly raceable o a belie a goosociology s ineviably aime a ebunking" socal mys (Berger 13;Elas 178) . More pracically i is animae by a nee o couner e pro

McDonalizaon propagana emanaing rom ese sysems

McDnaldzatn and Cnsuers

Te case as been mae in is book a McDonal's an e asooresauran more geneally is one o e ne means o consumpion Tuse gro o McDonaliaion is imporan no only in sel bu also ore role s playing n e increasing consumerism no only o Ameicansocey (McAllise 1) bu o socieies rougou e orl Muc o

e aenon o ose concee i consumersm as been ocuse onaversng (Een 17; Foles ; acobson an Mazu 15;McAlliser 1). Wile suc a ocus is ceanly juse ere are oeraspecs o consumerism a ae ory o analysis an ciiue One oose is e ne means o consumpion an e role playe by McDonalzaon in eir gro an sprea.

McDonals asoo esauans an all e oer ne means oconsumpion are ceainly imporan averisers. Along i mos o oseo suy consumeism I recognize a aveising plays an imporan rolen s oman. Le us look a a e o e ays in ic McDonal s along e oer cains o asoo resaurans) averising conibues oconsumerism an e problems associae i i.

Fo saers McDonals o course spens an enormous amoun omoney averising s ares Tis s mae necessay by among oer ings




Some Concludng Thoughts 1 85

the ct tht its poducts (hmbuges ench ies ied chicken sot dinkse vitu indistinguishbe om those o its competitos B the sheevoume o its dvetisements s we s the ct tht the ed its competitos to dveise t simi eve McDonds conibutes signicntto consumeism

Beond this bod concusion is the ct tht mn o the pobemsssocited with excessive consumeism cn so be inked to McDondsnd McDondition Fo exmpe commeci ognitions e otendemonied o iming thei dveisements t chiden nd o tuingchiden into ou iest consumes" (cobson nd Mu 1995 21)Cetin no commeci ognition is moe guit o this thnMcDonds. McDonds dvetisements e poweu pesence on Stud moing ctoon shows Moe gene McDonds hs histoicbeen dened b its eos to cte to chiden with cown (Rond

McDond s its dominnt smbo its pgounds its civike tmosphee its chid-oiented oods nd its pomotion tie-ins with mn movies(eg. Batman Retus) nd tos (eg. Mttes Hpp Me Snck Mke Setnd Bbie dos; in 1983 one o the Bbie do outts ws McDondswitess uniom McAiste 1 99 1 55. n these nd othe wsMcDonds hs sought to mke chiden ieong consumes o its poductsindeed ieong membes o nd ctive contibutos to ou consumesociet

McDonds hs so sought egitimc b inking itse to soci issues

The most notbe exmpe o this is Rond McDond House home osick chiden. Though its ssocition with this chit (nd in othe wsMcDonds hs ttempted to pot itse s phinthopic ognition.Whie thee is mesue o phinthop in such cts thee is n evengete mesue o commeciism The go is to hve the McDondsnme ssocited with phinthop nd not (s is the cse with heping totu chiden into ieong consumes o with commeciism moe gene.

A simi obective is invoved in McDonds sponsoship o vious

kinds o spoing events. The most notbe exmpe is the McDonds highschoo -Ameicn bsketb tems nd the -st gmes ped b thesetems With such sponsoship McDonds hopes to ink its nme with oneo Ameics most tesued spos especi mong the oung peope whoe its biggest customes.

Howeve the most impotnt citique o McDonds om this point oview is tht it is ede in poducing dveisements which i the do notie most ws i to te the uth The tobcco nd coho industies eusu singed out o ctique on this issue but something needs to be sidbout the stood indust in this egd Unike tobcco nd coho it isdicut to ttibute specic numbe o deths to excessive consumption ost ood. Nevetheess it is ce tht the kind o ood seved in st-oodestunts high in t choesteo coies st nd sug is dngeousto the heth o those who consume it on egu bsis McDonds




86 McDonaldaton Redux

cerinly never ells s his in is dverisemens nd i my even se orimply h is ood is helhy or s By or emple ssociing isel wihll-Americn bskebll plyers McDonld's implies h sch good helh,even robsness, is ssocied wih eing is resrns

While he growh o McDonld's nd oher sood resrns isssocied wih consmerism (nd is endn problems) he relionshipo McDonldizion o ll o his is comple one To he degree hMcDonldizion encompsses mos or ll o he new mens o consmpion hen i cn be seen s direcly linked o consmerism For emple hemeg-mll cn be seen s McDonldizing consmpion by or emplemking i more ecien o shop by combining mny dieren ypes o shopsnd sores in one locion We hve discssed (Chper 8 how credi crdshve served o McDonldize he process o geing nd sing lonInvolved in sch new mens o consmpion s megmlls nd credi crds,

McDonldizion is direcly linked o consmerismHowever, McDonldizion cn be dierenied rom consmerism in

vriey o wys A is bse, McDonldizion is se o principles or heorgnizion o consmpion work nd mny oher civiies Those principles cn be, nd re being, eended o nd employed in vriey o noncommercil nderkings A nonpro orgnizion perhps one involvedwih philnhropy or grn-giving cold well be rced by he sccess oMcDonld's nd oher McDonldizing bsinesses nd seek o le ndpply he principles h lie he bse o heir sccess Sch non-pro

orgnizion wold be pr o he process o McDonldizion b noinvolved (necessrily) in consmerism Ths McDonldizion, whiledeeply involved in consmerism is no coerminos wih i

Conversely consmerism involves mch more hn McDonldizionThere is or emple he impornce o dverising s wel s he lersincresing sophisicion Beyond h, here is he growh o inomercils,dverorils direc mrkeing, elemrkeing nd he like However some orll o hese cold be sid o be McDonldizing or emple, elemrkeinghs grown incresingly McDonldized

Straticatin Class Race Gender and Age

Mos o he discssion o McDonldizion hs middle- nd even npper-clss bis A generl ocs on consmpion, s well s more specicconce wih sch mens o consmpion s credi crds nd crise lineswold seem spporive o sch bis However mch o his nlysis lsopplies o nd hs direc nd indirec implicions or hose in he lowerclsses I lso hs sch connoions or oher minoriy grops incldingblcks, women nd dolescens The gol in his secion is o sgges lessome o hese implicions

Minoriy grops re, i nyhing more eced by McDonldizion hnmoriy grops As we hve seen McDonldized sysems hve ended o behose h oer low prices nd oen lesser-qliy goods nd services is




Some Concluding Thought 1 87

thoe n the lowe clae who ae mot lkely to ue uch ytem , o noothe eaon than the act that they cannot aod hhe-pced and hhequalty non-McDonaldzed alteate Coneely, thoe n the mddle anduppe clae hae the eouce to equent non-McDonaldzed ateateO coue, een they ae lued by McDonaldzed ytem, but the deence that they hae the wheewthal to et the pull when they o dee Iteem ae to hypotheze that thoe om the lowe cae patonzeMcDonaldzed ytem to a dpopotonate deee (Th, howee, maychane when moe hh-pced and qualty ettn become moeMcDonaldzed )

t een cleae that thoe om the lowe clae ae moe lkey to wokn McDonaldzed ytem; n othe wod to hold Mcob Relately ewadult membe o the mddle and uppe cae hold uch job (Howee,the chlden may well hae Mcob, at leat dun a poton o theadolecence) Membe o uch clae may well own one o moeMcDonaldzed ytem, but they ae hhly unlkey to wok n them Wthlttle educaton, ew kll and a death o ateate, membe o the loweclae may hae lttle choce but to accept Mcob, o to nd themleamon the unemployed The teenae chlden ae at leat a lkely, andpobably moe lkely, to hold uch occupaton than the chlden o themddle and uppe cae Futhemoe, they tend to hold them lone,pehap een well nto the adult yea

Thee concluon about patonae and wok ae alo lkely to hold oace, nce black, Hpanc and othe mnote ae ound dpopotonately n the lowe clae Thee cetanly nothn about ace per e thatwould pedpoe a cetan oup to wok n, o patonze, a McDonaldzedytem. Howee, ome McDonaldzed ytem may nd t n the nteetto zeo n on cetan ace wth pecc poduct o wth taeted adetncampan, whch may lead cetan mnoty oup to ue McDonaldzedytem to a dpopotonate deee

The ue o the elatonhp between ende and McDonaldzed ytem moe complex Fo one thn, enealzaton about ocal cla hold, at

leat to a cetan deee, o women That , mdde- and uppecla womentend to ue McDonaldzed ytem le than loweca women To thedeee that we hae wtneed a emnzaton o poety, moe women thanmen ae lkely to equent thoe ytem Fo anothe, women aco alocal clae may be hypothezed to equent uch ytem moe than menn compaable cla tuaton Fo exampe, een wth ubtantal chanen ende elaton, women aco cla lne contnue to houlde mot othe eponblty o podn the amly wth meal. Howee, many moewomen ae wokn and thu hae le tme to pepae meal at home The

eult that they ae moe lkely to be takn the amly out to a atoodetauant, han a pzza deleed, o bnn home a pe-made meal oma at-ood etauant o a upemaket alad ba. Becaue o a contnuatono tadtonal ende ole, women, whatee the ocal cla ae tl




1 88 McDonaldiaion Redux

saddld ith th rsponsibiity o providing th by rqunting McDonaldizd systs o on typ or anothr.

Larg nubrs o both als and als ork in Mcobs, spcially astnagrs It ay b, hovr, that th inization o povrty causs oradult on than n to ork in such occupations This hypothsis, as l l

as th ovrall issu o th rlationship btn gndr and Mcobs, isorthy o urthr study.

Ovrall, sinc liv in a socity stratid on th basis o inco, racand gndr, it should co as no surpris that thr ar dirncs alongths lins in suscptibility to McDonaldization Anothr dinsion, ntiond abov, is ag Young popl, in part bcaus o thir lack o ans,ar or likly than oldr popl to patroniz and to ork in McDonaldizdsysts And th products th advrtisnts and th jobs ar tailord toth nds and intrsts o young popl

Hovr, hil thr ar crtainly dirncs along class, rac, gndrand ag lins, hat is truly striking about McDonaldization is th dgr tohich it cuts across ths darcations ho it has anagd to hav aproound ipact on virtually vryon On o th ays in hich it has donthis is by driving out nonMcDonaldizd altativs n any placs,hatvr ons class, rac, gndr or ag, on has no altativ but toutiliz a McDonaldizd syst thr ar no radily availabl nonMcDonaldizd atativs Siilarly, in so locations, and or at lastso groups, no jobs ar availabl othr than Mcobs This lack o

altativs is th utiat xprssion o Wbrs iron cag and vryon,hatvr thir particular charactristics, is lockd in th cag togthrTh ohr aor ay in hich McDonadization has co to act

vryon is by bcoing a prizd coponnt o our valu syst. That is,popl across all o ths catgoris hav co to valu th cincy,prdictability, calculability and control that charactriz McDonaldizdsysts McDonalds, itsl, has bco a cultural icon, as hav othrMcDonaldizd systs. All groups ar actd by McDonaldization notonly bcaus thr ar altativs, but also bcaus thy valu thprocss and th systs that rprsnt it

Bor oving on, sothing nds to b said about all o this , spciallysocial class, and its rlationship to th n ans o consuption Rlativly Aricans hav dicuty aording astood rstaurants, at lastso o th ti This is not to say that thr ar not larg nubrs o poorpopl, spcially th holss and illgal iigrants, ho, unabl toaord a ast-ood al go ithout or iv o th discards o thos ho canYt it ss likly that ost o thos in th lor classs in th UnitdStats can aord a ast-ood al, at last no and thn.

Hovr, it is a dirnt attr in othr, lss-dvlopd, parts o thorld In any nations, a al at a astood rstaurant is prohibitivlyxpnsiv or prhaps th vast ajority o popl. or any othrs, it is aspcial trat that can b aordd only occasionally a aily al atMcDonald s ight cost a onth s arnings In so countris, a dinnr dat





a a asood resauran is a sign o auence and sophisicaion Then, ocourse, here are he naions ha are so badl o econoicall ha here areew, i an, as-ood resaurans. The ainl poor denizens o suchcounries are copleel deprived o he possibili o dining aMcDonald's

Mos o he oher ne w eans o consupion are even ore class linkedMan poor Aericans do no quali or credi cards, or i he do i is onlor he ar less desirable secured cards ha require ha a se aoun oone be on deposi wih he credi card copan The ore presigioushe card (gold, plainu, ec , he urher i is ou o he reach o hose in helower classes. In order o obain credi ebers o hose classes us relon loan sharks or old-ashioned insallen buing

Household Finance Co. (HFC specializes in loaning one o workingand lower-class cusoers (Baile, 199) The copan acivel seeks ou

cusoers alread deepl in deb o, sa heir credi card copanies Theigh oer such cusoers a hoe equi loan a an ineres rae ar aboveha o be obained a he local bank The also oer credi cards carringineres raes ar higher han he nor HC engages in sucker pricing,reling on he likelihood ha heir cusoers will no know ha he arebeing charged a usurious rae and ha a ar lower one is readil availableFew iddle or upper-class people are argeed b copanies like HC.

The poor o os oher counries are even less likel o have credi cardshan poor Aericans indeed, he a no even have ever heard o credi

cards, le alone he dierences beween a gold and a plainu card Thus,he poor are likel o be deprived o he coodiies obainable hroughsuch echaniss (as well as he lie o perpeual indebedness ha oenaccopanies he

Mos o he oher new eans o consupion are aied, as one wouldexpec n a capialisic socie and world, a he iddle and upper classeswih he one o uilize he ew ebers o he lower classes are likelo be requen visiors o as Vegas or regular users o cruise linesShopping alls and ega-alls are ar ore likel o be lled wih iddle

and upper han wih lowerclass consuers Mos elearkeers concenraeon hose wih he one o aord heir wares And he new cberalls areeven ore class-linked since onl he relaivel auen are able o aordhe echnolog ha gives he access o he cberalls

This being said, soe o he new eans o consupion do ocus on,perhaps pre upon, he lower classes Soe elearkeers do nd hose inhe lower classes easier and ore proable arges To ake anoherexaple, soe o he inoercials one sees on elevision see o be aiedpriaril a hose on he econoic argins

The new eans o consupion have been developed and pu in place bcapialiss ineresed in pros Naurall, he have, in he ain, developedeans ha are priaril auned o he needs o people wih econoicresources (or in creaing he need or heir goods and services aong suchpeople On he one hand, hose wih one are he beneciaries o hese




90 McDonaldiaion Redux

new means o consumption On the other hand it is they who are most likelyto be exploited by them However the plight o the poor is even worse Theyare likely as we have seen to be largely excluded rom the utilization o thenew means o consumption When they are not excluded they usually comeinto contact with the most marginal o the new means (ast-ood restaurants

questionable inomercials y-by-night telemarketers HFC) As usual thepoor have the worst o both worlds.

A Mdern Phenmenn in a Pstmdern Age

Finally I would like to retu to the issue o the relationship betweenpostmodeism and McDonaldization Throughout this book I argued thatmodernism and postmodernism can be seen as alteative ways o looking atcontemporary phenomena As a complement to my mode analyses o ast

ood restaurants and credit cards I used postmodernism as a theoretical lensto examine the new means o consumption (including astood restaurantsand credit cards). The issue could be let at that but or the sake odiscussion let us re-examine McDonaldization rom another perspective onthe relationship between modeism and postmodeism which is that weare in the midst o a monumental historical change in which a postmodesociety is in the process o supplanting mode society.

The issue in this case is the ate o mode phenomena and a modeprocess in a postmode world Let us assume that we can consider the ast

ood restaurant and the McDonaldization process as mode phenomena andthat we are currently undergoing a transormation to a postmode societyan the ast-ood estaurant survive perhaps even prosper in a postmodeworld What is the ate o McDonaldization in such a world

I rationality is the ine qua non o mode society then nonratonalityand/or irrationality occupies a similar position in postmode society.Suppose the postmodeists are correct and we are on the verge o theemergence o a nonrational or irrational society What are the prospects orMcDonald's and McDonaldization in such a situation For one thing such

rational phenomena could continue to exist in a postmode world andcoexist with the presumably dominant irrationalities In that caseMcDonaldized systems would be rational outposts in an otherwise irrationalworld People would ock to McDonald's to escape at least momentarilythe irrationalities that surround them Visiting a McDonald's would be likerequenting a throwback to an earlier era (much like eating at a diner istoday) But surviving in this way in the interstices o an otherwise nonrational world would be very dierent rom being the master trend thatMcDonaldization at least rom a postmode perspective once was

I one possibility is survival at the margins a second is disappearance inan avalanche o irrationalities This would be the scenario envisioned bymany postmodeists They would see rational McDonaldized systems asincompatible with the dominant irrational systems and likely sooner or laterto be swamped by them The long-term process o McDonaldization would




Some Concluding Thoughts 1 9 1

nlly come to n end it gre increingly unble to rtionlize theirrtionl.

A third, nd in mny y highly likely, poibility ould be ome ort ouion o the irrtionl element o potmodernity ith the rtionl component o Mconldiztion. In other ord, the cretion o ptiche o

modern nd potmodern element While thi pper, on the urce, to be compromie in ct uch ptiche i one o the dening chrcteritic opotmodeim. So thi kind o uion ould repreent nother verion othe triumph o potmodeity Buttreing the ce or thi ltetive i thect tht Mconldized ytem lredy re ell decribed by mny o theconcept vored by potmodeit conumerim, imulcr, hyperpce,multintionl cpitlim, imploion, ecty, nd mny other It could bergued tht uch ytem re already ptiche o modeim nd potmodeim nd thereore lredy potmode

The ourth, nd dimetriclly oppoed, poibility, i tht Mconldiztion il not only reit the irrtionlitie o potmodeity, but illultimtely triumph over them Thu, hile t the moment e might beeeing ome movement tord potmodeim nd irrtionlity, thi tendency i ikely to be hort-lived it i repuled by the mter trend oincreing rtionliztion. In thi cenrio it i potmodeim, not rtionliztion, tht i the hort-lived phenomenon Thi ltetive ould obvioulybe uncceptble to mot potmode thiner lrgely becue it men thtthe dvent o potmode orld ould be tillbo The triumph o

Mconldiztion men, by denition, the continution, even ccelertion,o modeityThe logic o the Mconldiztion thei ould, needle to y, vor the

lt o thee cenrio Ater ll, olloing Weber, the rtionliztionproce h exited nd oered over the coure mny centurie. In theproce it h encountered erie o monumentl brrier nd countertrend n the end it h not only triumphed over them, but emerged eventronger nd more entrenched otmodeim may prove to be moreormidble opponent; it may do ht no ocil chnge beore it h done lter, hlt or even revere the trend tord increing rtionliztion. Whileuch thing might occur, it i hrd to rgue gint the continution, indeedccelertion o Mconldiztion. hitory i ny guide, Mconldizedytem ill urvive, even prolierte, long ter e hve moved beyondpotmode ociety nd cholr hve relegted potmodeim to the ttuo concept o little more thn hitoricl interet

Note

I The e Mcondon hs found s w no sevel socologcl dconesncludng Abecobe e . (199 nd nd (1995).




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Name Index

Abbott, A

Abecombie N 11

Abahamo M 0

Ahe ., 14

Aleade, J 4 7

Appaduai A 2 0

Ache, M 2

Baiey J 1

Bak D 162

Bao, L, 14-

Babe B .R 142 14 10 17

Bake D.. 17

Bao M 1

Baudillad J 4 4 172 1 12

141 14 16 1-60 167

Bauma, Z 20 1 1 1 2 1 1 24 1 -2 1

143

Beck, 14Belleille B., 14

Bege, J 1

Bege P. 66 1 4

Bet, S. nBeye P 2 6-7 4

Blolad H G 161Bme H 46

Boudieu P. -7 40 42- 4-1 1 2

Baema, H 6-7 2 6 64 66-7

Byat, A 1 1 2

Byma A 1-6 141 10Bulkeley WM . 1 7

Buawoy M 66

Bu SW., 14

Butle, RW., 142

aey S, 146-7

apete R.P . 1

hamboedo, J 42

lake S. 61

oomy, P. 4

ook . 4oope . 40

oughli, 1

ehaw AB 102 104

ozie, M, 74

Damoch D, 1

Daido J . 142

Debod G 24 1

DeFioe J 0

Deeue, G. 1 7 12

Deida J. , 4 170

Deweile G 1 0 1 1 0 1 16

Dezeay Y 4- 0Duhamel, G 71 7 76

Duga, P 7

Dukheim . 141 1

delma 1 2

dwad R. 61

ge, 7

ia N. 4

we 1

we S 1 1 4

Faiola A. 40 14 1 7Feathetoe, M. 2 1 - 7- 24

1 4 1

Feie M 40

Fele R 70

Fie, G 4

Fjema, S, 2 42

Fletche JS 14 46

Fooe N., 2

Foucaut, M 4 1 2 1 40 1 44

Fowe J 1 1 1 4

Fo L 2 42 44Fiedma, 4 6 0

Fiedich R. 1

Fuey, P. 67

Gabiel Y 1 1 1

Galaoy, T 6 1 14

Gae M, 167 16-70

Ga, L, 7

Geoko G nGeth H.

Gibo R 2 6 6Gidde A 44 62 76 1 1 4

Gibet SW 17

Goffma . 46 4 144

Godma S. 1




204 Name Index

ouler -7

ree K. 17

rohoki J., 16 142

uattari . 171-2

Habera, 40

Hage J., 4 6Haer, .

Hael, S, -100

Harvey D. 6 17

Heyoo 10

Hil , B. , 141 14

Hill S, 191

Hohh , 64

Hoktae . 76

Houer, D, 141 14

Hoar, E 17 1

Jaobo, M. 14-

Jaeo . 122 124 127- 112 140

167 172

Jary, D, 10 1 1

Jary, J. , 1

Kalberg, S, 1 6

Kaeyer, K, 0

Kato, Y 102

Kat ., 70

Kig, 6

Kig, M 1Kight, D, 66 6Koik, WS 1, 1

Ka, S., 7

Kro, R., 6

Krueger, B 70

Kuh, 4 47 1

Kuel R 7 71 -6 7 7

Kutler, J., 10

Laae 7

La, 1 1 1 Lee, MS., 1 16

Leie R, 2 67 74 1

Leert, c 4 7

Leve, . 12-

Leve D., 16

ei M 12

ika, . 14 1 4

Liler, 61

Love, 1 7 64

ovig B. 140

Luka, 66Luxeberg S. 124

Lyotar, , 2 4 1 1 17-1 12 14 140

Mlliter, MP, 126 14

Maaell, D, 141 146

Meay E 7 1

Maoal, KM.,

MDoell, E,

MEery, M, 142

MHugh, 1 2

Maioi, 44MKay, B 77 7 4 -0

Mae, L 6-7 1 1 2

Mahei, K, 24 2 1 4 70

Max, K., -6 12 141 61 6 6-7 70

1 1

May, T., 142 147

Mau L. 14

Mea, .H. 46 7

Meeha,

Meie B.,

Meto, R. 46 7Mill, W ., I , 1 2 6 1 1 1 1 7

Moagha, P, 167

Mull N., 40

Mh R -6 4 2 7

Mut, 1 0

Myero, R., 177

Neea, B 121

Neber KM 1 14 146

Paelle M. 14

Parke M, 10 1Parrielo L., 140Pao, T 467 7

Paeo J., 42

Piere, R.L,106

Pietere JN., 4-

Pie, J., 1 2

Pkora B, 10

Plater, W.M, 12- 160

Pota, N., 12

Poer, H. 4 6

Preler, MW, 2Prihar, 1 0 1

Rai B. 12 142 144

Riha, P, 1 7

Rig 7

Riter, 1-2 12 4-7 4 4 1

7 6 70 7 1 1 2 1 1 1 7 1 6

140 17 1

Robert, R, 142 10

Roberto, R 1 6 -0

Rojek, c 1 141 14Rupkey, S, 102

Shaaf D, 62 1 4

Shut, ., 10 2 1




ServanSchrever - 72 77

Seyour D

Sharpe 6

Shelon

Name Index

Tourane

Tuer B 6

Upegrave W. 0

205

Sel 7 !O 7 2 Uy 67 4 4-

Son WE 6Sngleary M 6 00

Sa B 6-7

Seer N

Sh 2 4

Sh c 72

Sh . 6

Sorokn P ,

Specer M 76

Sephenon 67

Slle 46

Srnai D., 6Sro S. 06

Sulvan B

Suki 2

Takak R. 42

Tabo SP. 77

Tannenau . 67

Tayor .W. 6

Tao T 4

Tohy D. 42

Tiryakan E 2

an een RW

arney KR ,

iro P 4 40

Wacquan L.D., -7 4 4-

Wagner P,

Wacak D

Waleren I.,

Wah JP

Wa , 70

Waer M 77

Weer M - 4-6 -2 2 4

4 6 66-7 7 77 6 7 64 74

Week L 42 0

Weinein D 4

Wenein M 4

Whiee D

Wlla 7 7 77-

Wo H 0 6

Wnerip M 6

Wchel 7

Woack JP 72

Worley P 6




Subject Index

aadmia, 52

Frh, 42

aadmi tur 39 46, 56 1 58 1 65

ati, 1 92

raioal 8

agy-sruur thry 2

America the Menace (Duhaml) 71

Amria prss 978, 1 0 1 29blak ard, 29

Gold Card, 98 1 89

Opima 98

American Invasion, The (Wiiams) 71-2

American Joual of Sociology 52 54

American Sociolgical Review (jural) 52

American Sociologit ural), 35

Amriaism 79

Amriaiati, 7 8 12, 52 57, 7 1-94 1 17,

63 175

f aig 75 84 glad 756

atrs slwig prgrss 867

i Fra 7 1 734 80

of Russia 767, 79 8990Americaization of Eupe The (MCrary)

7 1

amusm parks 5 10 53, 124, 131, 136,

138 142, 148 165

ad sumpio, 9-2

AhusrBush brwry, 77

Arthur Trahr Fish ad Chips 23

Asmby i 41 -2 60 67, 96 99, 1 79-80

aadmi 49

autmbi, 26

AM (aumati tllr mahi) 65, 100, 105

1 09 22 1 5 1 , 53-5 1 6 1-2

AT&T 97

Auhwiz 32

automatd la mahis 65

baalizaio 1256

BakAmriard 83bak(s) 62, 69 52 154

oig f brahs 100

lrs 09

Big Rd Boat 36

Bkbusr Vid 78

Bdy Shp 37

Baa rtauras 1 79

Budwisr 77

buraurais, 1 8 2 25, 60 67, 96

Frh 74

Grma, 7

raia, 4 Wbr 2 56

burauratizati, 2, 54

Burgr ig 97 29

Wharig Fish 00

Whppr 98, 1 00, 1 25

aulabily 38 43 60 63 75, 105 35

148 1 74, 1 80, 1 88

dgr o 5

Caliia situ f gra Sudis, 159

apiaulural, 35

ful ir 68Capita Ciis/ABC, 50

apitalism 4 53 65 6870, 72 1 8 21 ,

27

hgmoy 165

itaioa 89 28 1 9

vrhrow, 171

apiaist aumulai, 69

Car Bah 29

ah 30oomy, 109

asis, 1 0 I 7, 1 1 92 1 , 23, 1 26, 31 ,

144 148 172

aagu shoppig, 1 7 9, 122

Charcter and Social Structure (Grh ad

Mis), 95

Chauaugua situio, 155

Chii's, 180

igart idury 956

ad J Caml 96

CNN, 138, 159-60CaCa 8 734, 76 87

alizati 7, 74, 87

d 1 8 2 8-30, 157, 1 66, 1 67 1 70-2

frata tag, 1 3 1 , 1 60




Subject Index 207

cd, ont.

scramblig, 7

f sigicati 2

Cmbid srac cmmrcializati 1 2 1256 1 5

cmmism 72 77

dath f, 2 5 4 Frch 7

cmptrs, 126 5 5

cict thry, 4

csmr cltr

mass 7

pstmdr critiq

csmr scity 2 1 -2 1 4 1 5 12

14-6

csmpti

ad amsmt parks, 2

cpig mthds, 1 65dcatial 0 5 5-62

ablig ad cstraiig 1 1 -20

ad ttaimt,

xcss, 7

hmgizati

immity t, 70

maximizati 6-70

f mdical srvics 6

mtamas 4

mds 4

w mas 2 -1 5 57 - 70- 0 1 5 1 7-7 1 2- 14

5 2 1 5 6 1 1 6-74 4 1 6

0

pstmdr aalyss 2 1- 65-7

scilgy f 1 1 2

stadardizati 75ctrl thrgh sbstitti f hma fr

hma tchlgy 41- 45-6 55

60- 6-5 6 70 0- 1 1 5

1 1 40 145 74 4

dgrs f, 5i labr prcss 7

Ct Chcla 2

crativity lss f 52 56

crdit cards, 1 - 4 57 6 7 1 1- 1

4- 1 7 1 1 1 22 1 24-5 1 27 0

1 2- 14 64 1 67 6 6 1 0

aal fs, 0 1 4

athrizati, 106 0

bills 24

calclability 10-5

imptac f advisig 7 1-20 1 21 4

cllg ad high schl stdts,

cmpais, 6 27

cmptr scrig 1 02-5 1 0

crdit cards, ont

cvic srs 05

ctryclb billig, 0 14

ad s f crdit bras, 1 10

dadbats 6

dliqcis 10

dscriptiv billig, 1 0 1 4xpasi 27

ad idbtdss 6 0 -2 14 64 6

1 72 1

itrst rats 6 0 -2 1 4

ad crdit limits 01 1245 127 1 72

ffrd by "baks 7

prapprvd 05 1 07

rvlvrs 1 05

scrd 1

similaritis with fastfd idstry 6-

scity, 1 0 1 4ivrsal

critical thry, 1

cis ships 0 1 7 1 24 1 26 1 2

10- 6 1 1414 46 4 I

65 172 6 1

lifstyl 4

cltral imprialism, 7

cltral tr

Cstm Ft, 2

cstmizati, 1 2

cybrballs, 1 1 1 5 1 7 1 261 1 1 5 1 54 1 61 1 65 1

cybrspac, 5

Dav ad Bstrs 2 50

Days

dbit ards, 05-6 10-0 122

dMcDaldizati, 12 74-; ee ao

McDaldizati

dsrt 2-4 2

dskillig 6 66 6 00

dtritrializati, 2Dir's Clb 6 12

Discvr Card,

dischatmt I 22-5 66

Disy Chal 42 15

Disy Cis i 16

Disy Uivrsity 1 54-5 1 62

Disy Villag Marktplac 14

Disy Wrld 10 2 2 56 1 4 14 1 46

47- 152-

Disyizati, 2 146

Disylad, 2 146Disyladizati 74

Discvry Z 2

divisi f labr 4 2 4

scial 4




208 Subject ndex

Dominos, drivthrogh window, 62-3 100, 105,

1 7 1

DPont 74

onomy, 17, 127, 165

postmodrn, 130otorism 141 49

stasy 125 1479 60 191

finy, 10 21 24 38 41-3 45 60 63 75,

1 05-7 1 1 3- 4 1 35 1 38 , 1 54, 1 60 1 74

184 188

dgrs of, 5

infiny 180-1

ltroni fnds transfrs (s) 93 1 06, 1 09

1 1 5 , 1 2 2

lk Montain Rd agr/Ambr Al 1 77

mrgn, 82mpiria rsarh 5, 38 46, 47

thnosap, 90

ro Disny 53 73-4, 76 80 143

as "ltral Chrnobyl, 73

ropan soial thoy 1 2

xhang onomi 66

soia, 166

symboli 1 66-7

thory 48

xploitation 61 65-8

of onsmption 68 70 1 2 1

o f stomrs 65-6

of prodtion 68 70 121

Exreng Amer Ritr), 12 57 163-4

fatory frming, 15 122

Fd nd Fbe in Mde Sey (Sorokin),38

Fasism 1 8 29

fastfood rstarants, 1-2 5-6 1 1- 14, 22 26

28 37-40, 42 49 55, 57 59-60, 624,

67-8 7 73, 8 19 1 , 9 3, 9 5 122, 124-6,12833 143, 146, 1514 156, 158-9,

1 6 1 1 63 1 66 1 69-7 1 1 74, 1 76, 1 79,

84 187-90

allability in, 1005

ollg ampss and high shools 98

hgmony 167

hyprti natr 25

imporan of advrtising 97, 1 9-20, 1 32,

1 846

lak of innovation 97

as obsn 1 68and prolifration of signs 1 25

similariis with rdit ard indstry, 96-8

strtr and dor 122

fatal stratgis, 16970

fminiation of povrty 1 878

nansap 90Folkston ational Marin Rsrv, Park and

Marin Msm 146

Ford Motor Company 15

Fordism, 6 1 1 36 1 79-80; ee l post

FordismFort Clatsop 145

Franhising 2000, 32

Gnral Motors 97

GM ard, 1 12

gifts 1 667

global ltr 89-90

gobaliation 7 8 12 57 8 1-94, 1 1 7

of lgal srvis, 84-5, 90

pross, 8 1

thory 57 88 90 94gloaliation, 86

grad ination, 156

Grat Dprssion 31

H&R Blok 10

Hambrgr Univrsity 6 26 6 1 3 1 545

57 1 60, 1 62

HathSoth Corp., 16 1

htrogniationhtrogniy 77 82

ltral 85-6

Holiday nn, 161

Hom Shopping twork (HSN) 9 9

1 1 7, 1 920 123 1 3 1 1 53, 1 59

homopathi rmdis 1 67

homogniationhomognity 77 82, 889,

140, 1 789 1 83

of onsmption 93

lral, 856

of rop, 73, 79

Hospitality Franhis Systms 93

Hot Bonavntr (os Angls) 1 28

Hoshold Finan Co (HFC), 1 89-90

Hntington Banshas 99100hybridiation

ltal, 85

strtral, 85

hypality 123 147

hyprspa 128 132 144 159 172 191

hyprvisibl, 168

idologis 22

Ideogy nd U (Mannhim) 16

implosion, 159, 160, 191

indstriaiation 22, 30infiny, 1 80-1 ee lo iny

infomrials, 1 17, 1 86, 1 89-90

ntrnt 93 26 148 157 162

iron ag ee rationaliation iron ag




Subject Inde 29

irrationality:

unctional, 31 33

Mannheims view 29-32

origins, 31

o rationality, 2-3, 5 19 , 22 29-32, 34 45,

60 88, 99, 1 1 1 1 3 1 35 74, 1 9

sbsantia, 30 33

Jackson Michae, 78

Japanization, 72

uicy Burger (ebanon) 85

entucky Fed hicken, 1 29, 177 , 1 83

Kroc, Ray, 96

as Vegas 10 15, 120 1289, 136, 142,

148, 1 51 89

as Vegasization 142, 8 1

escau caves 145 14 150evi jeans, 84, 87

iebank I4-5 , 1 62

ieworld

postmode, 146

socioeconomic I

ong ohn Silver, 1 23

McDisneyization 15 80, 1 34- 50 8

McDoctors 55

McDonad s, 8 23, 26, 39 74, 76-7 79-80,

83 97, 29, 1 35-6, 143, 146, 149 1 52161, 1756 84

Arch Delue 98 175

Bi g Mac 8, 38, 40 52, 76 84-5 100 0

125, 130, 166, 17\ 175

business practices, 94 97

Chicken McNugges 0 1 05 1 22 1 25 30Chicken Satsuta (Japan), 85 1 39

cuelty to animals, 1 76

deorestation, 176

Egg McMun 1 25

empoyees 138Europe, 8

iletOFish, 1 78

Goden Arches 30

groenteburgers (Netherlands) 85, 1 39

hamburgers 53

Hula Burger, 178

srael 78

McHuevos (Uguay) 85-6, 139

Mcaks (Norway) 856, 139

McQuesos (Uuguay) 1 39

McSpaghei (hiippines), 85as negative symbol 1 75

phianthropy, 185

Quarter ounder 1 00

reading 1 29

McDonalds, ont

Samurai pork burgers Thailand), 85

vauemeas 97, 129, 153

McDonaldization

o academia 5 10, 35-52

advantages 83

aternaves, 1 64as American menace, 7 1 -80

o American society, 55 57

o American sociology, 35-5 55-6

barriers to 6

case or, 1 834

characerisics/dimensions 42, 60

and consumerism 1 84-6 1 9 1

at cultura level, 6 1

degrees o, 5 , 1 82

dehumanization by, 3, 42 45, 60 6-7 88,

99, 1 1 1 2 1 4 3 5and democratizaion 1 83

economic interests 6

o educaion 1 2, 56 67-8, 1 5 1 62

o European social theory 5

epansion 7 59-1 6

epot, 7 l

actors sowing progress 867

o ood and eating 8-9 84

gender 87

Germany 56

homogenizing process 86iaionaities, 29-34, 138-9

labor and labor pocess 6-8 1 2, 59-70

ocal reactions,

oss o individualiy 76-7

oss o naiona idenity 76

"manuacturing 66

o medicine 5 55 61

power o

pocess 2 1 6 , 2 5 7 1 , 8 1 3 91

quaity associated with, 1 80

Richad Mnch and, 52-8and the se o nonMcDonadized business,

I, 187

rubber cage, 1 64

o science, 43 47

as set o disembedded principles 767

o social processes, 7

and social straticaion, 1 2 7- 1 8 34, 68

1 86-90

o social structures 36, 49 62, 95

o socioogica theory 5-6 45-8, 523

o socioogy 4 35-51 53, 55-6spread, 2

"subectiying, 66

o teaching, I

o ourism, 10, 12




2 1 0 Subject Index

McDadizati, con.

uiveritie 5 6

vevet cage, 64 ao deMcDadizati pt

McDadizai

MDonadiaion of Soie (itzer, , - 4,

4 6 , 96, 5-6 6Mcb, 6-7, , 0, 55, 5970, 58,

878

Mcibe, 75-6

McUiverity, 0 5-64, 67, 7-

McWrld, 4-

Mada, 7, 78

Mall America 4, 4 , 56

ma, 0, 0, 0, 4-, 5

amuemet, 50

utet, 4

ppig, 9, , 9 5 , 7 , 9,-6 , 4, 489, 556, 6 , 7 ,

89

Mn and Soiey in n Age of Reonruion

(Maeim, 9

ma

media, 67, 5, 59

ciety 0

f tudet, 69-7

Mateard 8, 9, 978, 0, 9

Maetr, 0

Mater arge, 8megama, , 9, 0, 7, 5 , 5, 65 7,

86 89

metacigy, 5-7, 50

metatery, 7

Metretre 9

MGM Grad (a Vega 8 6, 44, 79

Miceb 77

Mickey Me, 7

micrmacr tery, 95

Mind, Sef and Socie Mead, 46

Mid xtei iverity, 59

mder ciety, 9, ,

mder tery , 8, 48

mderim/mderity, , 8, 8, 67, 7

advaced, 4

ed f, 89

epai 87

Weter, 88

mdeizati tery 8, 8 889

mey, 0

Simme tery, , 5

Mt' icag, 79

MTV, 74, 5 59-60

atitate, 57, 8-, 88, 94

atia iveritie Degree rtium, 59

azim 0, 4

efertiti, 46

euctiaim, 48

ike 8

g, 0

irua (dia, 85 7

Oive Garde retaurat 79

Oi ark (Germa Demcratic epubic, 45,

48, 50

aptic 44

paradigm, 44

particuarim, uiveraim f, 86

patapyic, 7

epi, 84

ittypat' rc, 77-8

izza ut, 8paig, 5 , 4

cetraized 4 8,

ratiaized, 7

itat etwrk, 6

peye', 9, 78

ptrd im 6 , 6, 79-80 ee ao

rdim

ptidutria ytem 4

ptidutriaizati, 68

ptMcDadizati, 80

ptmdercde, 65

ierld 46

cia tery , 9, - , 40, 48, 6

65

ciety, , 9, , 5 , 6, 4, 5 7, 67 ,

7

ytem, 4-5

ptmderim/ptmderity, 69, 8, 8 7, 94,

- 4, 657 90

auteticity i, 45-7, 49

dawig, 89eitim, 68

irratiaity, 9

triump, 9

pttucturaim, 8, 0

ptturim, 40-8, 50

tmac Mi, 4

predictabiity, 8 404, 49 60, 75 07-8,

4 5, 8, 74 84, 88

degree f 5

upredictabiity, 8

ice ub, 7, 0 67pvate trube ad pubic iue, , , 95-6

prfeializati, 54-5, 58

abr rce, 8




Subect Index 2 1

producio, 68 90- 1 1 1 8

pas oaios, 9

sadardzao, 75

workers, 1 8

QZar 92

Quittive Sooog oual 5 1ualiaie sudies 38-9 4

uaae sudies, 39 4 1-3

quarophea 38

Ramada 9 3

raioal choice heory 57

raioaly, 1 6 87 17 1 901

ormal, 3, 4 924 324 88

ucioal 1 9 23 26-7, 29 31 3

isrumeal 88

iaioalies o 2-3, 5 9 22 29-33 34

45, 60 88 99, 1 1-13 35 74 90-1ogis, 31

sceic 43

susaial 3 19-24, 29 324

susaie, 3 924, 32-3

aluedre 33

raoalizao 1 8 33 35 46 49 53-5 87

74 9

o auomoile loas 99

o usiess loas 99

o climg, 139

disadaages, 34ormal 24

ucoal 4 22 24 26, 28 3 1

o home equy loas 99

creasig 95-1 1 6

ro cage, 4, 7, 67, 789, 516 1 64,

172 183 188

o loa process 87-8 99-100

Maheim' s heoy, 3 1 634

o morgages, 99

process 43, 95, 981 00, 3 1 5 1 76

ressaces o 1 3940o sociey 31 1 13

susaial 4 22 28, 3

Weers heory -3 66 96 35

o work, 5970

see s selraioalao

Rebirth of the West The uga ad Ga

71-2

recpes 10 121

Red oser resauras 1 29 79

reexiy 35 50

repoducie echologes 26reiew pocess 40 47

rouies, 17 6 67

Roy Rogers resauras, 1 07, 1 22

Russkoye Bisro 76-7 85

Ruh s hris Seak House, 1 79

saelle campuses 5 7-9 1 65

scece, 434 47

phlosophy o 51

scec maageme 8 60-1 63 67 96

scrips 3 9-10, 9 25, 6 634 67 08121 135 138 58 66 see s su

scrips

Seuing the Frenh (uisel 72

seduco 68-9

Segaworld 42 47

seldeio 90

seloseaio 4 2730, 33 70

selraioalizaio 4 25-30, 33 64; see so

raoalizaio

selrasormaio, 27-8

seice secor 60shoppig malls see malls shoppig

sgicaio, 256

code o 128

sgs, 1 819 25 30 4 143 57, 17

rohel o 1 59

massicaio o, 130

si mulacra 9 10 12 13 1 1 4 145 147 16 8

78 9 1

serial produco o 1 27

simulaios 5, 1 223 46 49, 60 66

o payme 1 60Szler resauras 179

smar cards, 1089, 1 1 5, 60

seakerzao, 1 8 12

Sickeraio 79

socal:

hage I

deermsm 36

prolems I

processes, 49

sucures, 36, 49, 62 1 19

sysems 50heoy, 524 567

So Pshoog Qurter oural 5 1

socalsm 4 25

socializaio, 67

reerse 27

socioaalyss 35

socologcal reseach 38-9 42-3

sociologcal heory 42

specalao wh 47-8

sociology:

Amerca 35-55o cosumpo 1 32

curre crisis i, 49

emprcal 445, 48

Europea 53




2 1 2 Subec dex

socology on

Fc 1 7

stoy 66

ouas 38-4 1 47 6

McDoa1dzato 4 3-1 -6

prolms 37

v 3 0atoazato 37

scc 43

socology of 36-7

ttooks 38 44

oolog: A Mulple Paadgm ene

Rtz) 1

oolog o oolog (Fdric) 1

Spago stauat 179

spcazato 478 63 68

tousm on

va tt 39 49tal 40"McDsyzato 10 34-40mtamas 43mod appoac 30

w mas 10 143- 6sustaal 149vrtua 39-4 149ee alo cotousm posttousm tco

tousmTour Gae The (Ury) 37tous

packag 36-7stadadzd 36-7

Toward an Inegaed oologal Paadgm

(Rtz) 34

George Ritzer-The McDonaldization

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Transcript of George Ritzer-The McDonaldization