The
sociologist George Ritzer introduced
the term "McDonaldization" for a cultural process in which
a society adopts the characteristic features of a fast-food
restaurant. These usually include efficiency, calculability,
predictability and control. Conversely, creativity and
unpredictability are minimized in this process and central aspects of
human life such as innovations and creations do not take place. It
also changes the way people live and think: Soon people will apply
the principles of "McDonald's" to all aspects in their
life, creating a faster and impatient society. According to Ritzer
America is very far along in this process of McDonaldization and it
will probably continue due to the fact that children are born into
this kind of society and socialized by this system.
If
this process can be found in the United States what does it have to
do with cultural transmission?
"McDonald's",
along with many other American fast-food chains and similar
companies, is very present in countries all over the world and a
perfect example of the so-called Americanisation of other cultures.
As stated before, this in itself is not necessarily a bad thing and
it is assumed that products of American origin are not just blindly
consumed but adapted to the needs in the different countries. But
what if this process of Americanisation stands for something more
than just the product itself and changes the structure of society,
its morals and values and ultimately its way of life?
According
to Ritzer this process is actually taking place in a lot of countries
especially in Western Europe. Here "McDonald's" has
actually changed the way of how people eat and also how they think
about food and the role it plays in their life. Ritzer's example of
France makes that very clear. But he also says that Europe is not as
McDonaldised as the United States and there are still enough parts of
the culture that are untouched by this process. Therefor people there
are less affected by McDonaldization and do still reflect upon and
also criticize this process. In conclusion the cultural transmission
of social and cultural changes maybe is not as great as one might
fear, at least as long as there are still people that deal with this
subject critically and call attention to its dangers.
Ending
on a positive note even for the United States, Ritzer has also
created the term "De-McDonaldization" which is the opposite
movement to the cultural process described, focusing on preserving
cultural values and traditions. So there is always hope.
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