McDonaldization: The Edible American Dream

27.05.2021
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McDonaldization: The Edible American Dream

The choices of individuals reveal their character. At this point, just as things like what we read, what we watch, our choice of spouse and friends are personal, what we eat is just as personal and determines our identity. And as feminist discourse puts it, “The personal is political.”

What are the criteria that occur in our mind when deciding on our food preferences? Filling our stomach fast in the most affordable way? Knowing that we are in control and that we can get maximum efficiency from the food we eat? Fast-food restaurants that respond to such questions and requests can be our savior in the rapidly rotating time counter of the globalizing world.

(Credit: Toplumun McDonaldlaştırılması. (2020, July 4). [Photography]. Dünyabizim. https://www.dunyabizim.com/kitap/standart-ebat-standart-lezzet-standart-insan-toplumun-mcdonaldlastirilmasi-h41400.html)

Therewithal, in that point, our food preferences are political and sociological phenomenons because it forms a branch of culture. Within the framework of new world’s changing and transforming conditions, the globalization of culture has been inevitable . McDonaldization, which is the cornerstone of this study, reveals the global impact that a fast food chain has created by showing an imperialist spread, which George Litzer (born October 14, 1940) put forward with his thesis “The Mcdonaldization of the Society”.  Although this spreads as a cultural transformation, it also emphasizes the world that is moving towards uniformity.

 “It is also an important form of cultural pedagogy that educates people about standardized fast food consumption and ideological conformity. Hence, McDonald’s has been the cultural ambassador of Americanization and global capitalism by promoting the product show and its consumer culture all over the world. ”(Kellner, 2013: 79)

Asian McDonald's worker leans out of Chinese drive-thru

(Credit: Ashley Crossman. (2020, January 28). McDonaldization: Definition and Overview of the Concept [Image]. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/mcdonaldization-of-society-3026751)

 

As an example of Americanization having an impact on global culture, McDonaldization characterizes society while at the same time infusing elements of modern capitalism. This process, which originated in the USA, has spread rapidly all over the world in a fluid manner.

There have been a number of political and social developments that have spawned McDonaldization. According to Ritzer, these are the bureaucratization and rationalization introduced by Weber. According to the author, the wheels of machinery that exploit society in fast-moving consumer industries such as fast-food chains etc. have stopped rationalizing. New approaches and searches are on how to re-operate the wheels.

NE YEDİĞİNİ BİL! BURGER KING® - WHOPPER® - PUF PUF EKMEK - YouTube

Ne Yediğini Bil. (2017, January 17). NE YEDİĞİNİ BİL! BURGER KING® – WHOPPER® – PUF PUF EKMEK [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwzcKYWnA0Q

The Holocaust is an another example of McDonaldization highlighted by Ritzer. Although some people find this approach unreasonable, the author has valid reasons. According to Ritzer’s statement, genocide was planned within the framework of the principles of rationality and includes people who were systematically murdered. This type of organization is based on bureaucracy. McDonaldization involves a factory process with its mechanical, senseless reflection. Similarly, during the genocide, Jews were stigmatized with numbers, kept in gas chambers and put to sleep. Genocide with other pioneers of McDonaldization, It is linked to the associated factory system.

 

According to Ritzer, the McDonaldization of society is a phenomenon that occurs when society, its institutions, and its organizations are adapted to have the same characteristics that are found in fast-food chains. These include efficiency, calculability, predictability and standardization, and control. (Crossman, 2020)

Efficiency is an optium method of complating a task. The rational determination of the best made of production.

Calculability is assessment of outcomes based on quantifiable rather than subjective criteria. In other words, quantity over quality. They sell the Big Mac, not the Good Mac.

Predictability includes the production process. This process is organized to guarantee uniformity of product and standardized outcomes.

Control is the substitution of more predictable non-human labor for human labor; either through automation or the deskilling of the work force.

 

 

Sources:

Crossman, Ashley. (2020, January 28). McDonaldization: Definition and Overview of the Concept. ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/mcdonaldization-of-society-3026751

Kellner, D. (1999). Theorizing/Resisting McDonaldization: A Multiperspectivist Approach. https://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/essays/theorizingresistingmcdonaldization.pdf

Smart, B. (1999). Resisting McDonaldization. London: Sage.

 

 

AUTHOR INFO
Esra
The student of International Relations in Turkey. She dances with words associated with art, mythology, culture and politics
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