George Ritzer
George Ritzer (born 1940) is a sociologist who studies American patterns of consumption, globalization, metatheory, and modern and postmodern social theory. Currently, Ritzer is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.
George Ritzer
"I'd like to see a society in which people are free to be creative, rather than having their creativity constrained or eliminated." [1]
Contents
[hide]
1 Early life 2 Education and early employment 3 Academic employment 4 Ritzer's main ideas
o o o o o o
4.1 McDonaldization 4.2 Consumption 4.3 Prosumption 4.4 Something vs. Nothing 4.5 Globalization 4.6 Grobalization
o o o
4.7 Glocalization 4.8 Metatheory 4.9 Modern and postmodern social theory
5 Bibliography
o o o o o o
5.1 Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science (1975, 1980) 5.2 Toward an Integrated Sociological Paradigm (1981) 5.3 The McDonaldization of Society (1993) 5.4 The McDonaldization of Society 7: 20th Anniversary Edition (2012) 5.5 The Globalization of Nothing, Second Edition (2007) 5.6 Enchanting a Disenchanted World, Third Edition (2009)
6 Leadership roles 7 Awards and acknowledgements 8 References 9 External links
Early life[edit]
Ritzer was born in 1940 to a Jewish family in New York City. His father worked as a taxi cab driver and his mother was employed as a secretary in order to support Ritzer and his younger brother. Ritzer later described his upbringing as upper lower class.[2] After his father became ill, Ritzer recalled instances when his mother had to break open the family's piggy bank in order to provide for the family.[2]
Education and early employment[edit]
Ritzer graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1958.[3] He described it as a great experience. At the Bronx High School of Science he claims to have, "encountered the brightest people I have ever met in my life.[2] Ritzer began his education at the City College of New York. While at CCNY, Ritzer initially thought that he was going to focus on business, but he later changed his major to accounting. After graduating from CCNY in 1962,[3] Ritzer decided that he was interested in pursuing business again. Ritzer was accepted into the MBA program at the University of Michigan, where he received a partial scholarship. While at Michigan, Ritzer's official academic interest was human relations, however, he reports having many other intellectual hobbies such as reading Russian novels. Ritzer reported that at Michigan he was able to grow and improve as a student. He loved the city of Ann Arbor and the small college town feeling that it emitted. However, during his time at Michigan, Ritzer can clearly remember being greatly connected to global events. He reports memories of going to the Michigan Union to watch the happenings of the Cuban Missile Crisis. [2]
Ritzer graduated from The University of Michigan in 1964.[3] After graduation, Ritzer began working in personnel management for the Ford Motor Company. However, he soon became uncomfortable with his workplace. Ritzers managers mistakenly hired more people than was necessary for his job, leaving Ritzer idle and unoccupied. As Ritzer once said: If we had two hours of work a day, it was a lot.[2] Nevertheless, Ritzer was always expected to appear busy. He would constantly wander around the factory for hours observing people working. This caused many of the workers and foremen to become hostile towards Ritzer. Moreover, Ritzer also found problems within the management structure at Ford. Most of the younger people with advanced degrees opposed their elders who were less educated. Furthermore, Ritzer found himself constrained and unable to do anything creative while working at Ford. This experience led Ritzer to seek new opportunities for his life. Soon, Ritzer found himself applying to PhD programs.[2] Shortly thereafter, Ritzer enrolled in Cornell Universitys organizational behavior PhD program in the School of Labor and Industrial Relations. Ritzer was advised by Harrison Trice, who urged him to minor in sociology. After being told by sociology department head Gordon Streib to read an introductory textbook, Ritzer found himself enthralled with the subject matter. He continued to succeed at sociology courses at the graduate level. During one of his courses on American society, Ritzer wrote a 102 page paper, on which he received an A+. Ritzer attributed his talent of being able to compete with well read and experienced sociology students to his ability to work hard.[2]
Academic employment[edit]
After graduating from Cornell in 1968, Ritzer has received various academic appointments throughout his career:[3]
1968-1970- Assistant Professor, Tulane University 1970-1974- Associate Professor, University of Kansas 1974-2001- Professor, University of Maryland 1984- Visiting Exchange Professor, University of Surrey, England. 1988- Visiting Professor, Shanghai University; Peking University 1990- Visiting Exchange Professor, University of Surrey, England 1996- Visiting Professor, University of Tampere, Finland 2001- Visiting Professor, University of Bremen, Germany 2001present- Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008- Visiting Professor, Associazione per lIstituzione della Libera Universit Nuorese, Sardinia, Italy
2012 Visiting Professor, University of Salzburg, Austria 2013 Visiting Scholar, Center for Advanced Study, University of Munich, Germany
Ritzer's main ideas[edit]
Although known as a sociologist, Ritzer has never received a degree in sociology proper. As Ritzer said in a later interview I basically trained myself as a social theorist, and so I had to learn it all as I went. Furthermore, Ritzer found that not being trained in social theory was advantageous for him, simply because his reasoning was not limited to a particular theoretical perspective.[2]
McDonaldization[edit]
Ritzers idea of McDonaldization is an extension of Max Webers (18641920) classical theory of the rationalization of modern society and culture. Where Weber famously used the terminology of an iron cage to describe the stultifying, Kafkaesque effects of bureaucratized life, Ritzer argues that the McDonalds restaurant has become the better exemplar of current forms of instrumental rationality and its ultimately irrational and harmful human consequences[4] Mcdonaldization's institutions are part of a general drive to rationalization. They share four dimensions. They aim to increase: 1. Efficiency- Choosing the best, quickest, or least difficult means to a given end. 2. Calculability- Emphasis on the quantitative aspects of the product being sold. 3. Predictability- Involves the customer knowing what to expect from a given producer of goods or services. 4. Control- A way to keep a complicated system running smoothly. Rules and regulations that make efficiency, calculability, and predictability possible. McDonaldization is profitable, desirable, and the cutting edge of technological advances. However, it creates a disenchantment of the world and the replacement of magic and surprise with efficiency and routine overall dehumanizing society.[5]
Consumption[edit]
An early admirer of Jean Baudrillards Consumer Society (1970),[6] Ritzer is a leading proponent of the study of consumption. In addition to The McDonaldization of Society, the most important sources for Ritzers sociology of consumption are his edited Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption: Fast Food Restaurants, Credit Cards and Casinos (2001), Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption (2nd edition 2005, 3rd edition forthcoming), and Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit-Card Society (1995). Ritzer is also a founding editor, with Don Slater, of Sages Journal of Consumer Culture.[3]
Prosumption[edit]
First coined by Toffler in 1980, the term prosumption is used by Ritzer and Jurgenson , [7] to break down the false dichotomy between production and consumption and describe the dual identity of economic activities. Ritzer argues that prosumption is the primordial form of economic activities, and the current ideal separation between production and consumption is aberrant and distorted due to the effect of both Industrial Revolution
and post-WWII American consumption boom. It has only recently become popularly acknowledge that the existence of prosumption as activities on the internet and Web 2.0 resemble prosumption much more so than production or consumption individually. Various online activities require the input of consumers such as Wikipedia entries, Facebook profiles, Twitter, Blog, Myspace, Amazon preferences, Ebay auction, Second Life, and etc. Ritzer argues that we should view all economic activities on a continuum of prosumption with prosumption as production (p-a-p) and prosumption as consumption (p-a-c) on each pole.
Something vs. Nothing[edit]
According to Ritzer, "Something" is a locally conceived and controlled social form that is comparatively rich in distinctive substantive content as well as being fairly unique. "Nothing" is a social form that is generally centrally conceived, controlled and comparatively devoid of distinctive substantive content [8] "Nothing" usually aims at displaying qualities that "something" has such as personal or local flavor. Examples of "nothing" are McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Starbucks, credit cards, and the Internet. Examples of "something" are local sandwich shops, local hardware stores, family arts and crafts places, or a local breakfast cafe. [9]
Globalization[edit]
Referring to the rapidly increasing worldwide integration and interdependence of societies and cultures.[10] This book presents a sophisticated argument about the nature of globalization in terms of the consumption of goods and services. He defines it as involving a worldwide diffusion of practices, relations, and forms of social organization and the growth of global consciousness.[11] The concept of "something" vs. "nothing" plays a large part in understanding Ritzer's Globalization. Society is becoming bombarded with "nothing" and Ritzer seems to believe that the globalization of "nothing" is almost unstoppable [12] Ritzers aforementioned The Globalization of Nothing (2004/2007) stakes out a provocative perspective in the on-going and voluminous globalization discourse. For Ritzer,globalization typically leads to consumption of vast quantities of serial social forms that have been centrally conceived and controlled one McDonalds hamburger, i.e., one instance of nothing again and again- dominates social life (Ritzer, George. 2004. The Globalization of Nothing. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press). In addition to The Globalization of Nothing, Ritzer has edited The Blackwell Companion to Globalization (2007), written Globalization: A Basic Text (2009), and edited an Encyclopedia of Globalization(forthcoming). Insight into Ritzers distinctive approach to globalization is available via a special review symposium in the Sage journalThesis Eleven (Number 76, February 2004).[13]
Grobalization[edit]
Grobalization involves three motor forces: capitalism, McDonaldization, and Americanization. Grobalization creates a world where: 1. Things are more and more the same everywhere. 2. Larger forces overwhelm the power of people to adapt and innovate in ways that preserve their autonomy. 3. Social processes are coercive, determining the nature of local communities, which have little room to
maneuver. 4. Consumer goods and the media are key forces that largely dictate the nature of the self and the groups a person joins.[14]
Glocalization[edit]
Glocalization is a combination of the words "globalization" and "localization" used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally, but is also fashioned to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market. Ritzer further explains Glocalization as a relatively benign process that is closest to the "something" end of things. It creates variety and heterogeneity within society.[15]
Metatheory[edit]
Metatheory can be defined as the attainment of a deeper understanding of theory, the creation of new theory, and the creation of an overarching theoretical perspective. There are three types of metatheorizing. The first (Mu), aims at being a means of attaining a deeper understanding of theory. The second (Mp), aims at being a prelude to theory development. The last (Mo), aims at being a source of perspectives that overarch sociological theory.[16] Influenced by Thomas Kuhns The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), Ritzer has long advocated the view that social theory is improved by systematic, comparative and reflexive attention to implicit conceptual structures and oft-hidden assumptions.[17] Key works include Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science (1975), Toward an Integrated Sociological Paradigm (1981), Metatheorizing in Sociology (1991), and Explorations in Social Theory: From Metatheorizing to Rationalization (2001). See also Ritzers edited Metatheorizing (1992).
Modern and postmodern social theory[edit]
Ritzer is known to generations of students as the author of numerous comprehensive introductions and compendia in social [Link] society is a consumer society that invents new means of consumption, such as credit cards, shopping malls, andshopping networks. Today, "Capitalism needs us to keep on spending at ever-increasing levels to be and remain capitalism." [18] As with several of Ritzers other principal works, many are translated into languages as diverse as Chinese, Russian, Persian, Hebrew and Portuguese. [3] Key volumes in this genre include The Sociological Theory (7th edition 2008), Classical Sociological Theory (5th edition 2008), and Modern Sociological Theory (7th edition 2008), Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols. 2005), and Postmodern Social Theory(1997). For convenient access to many of Ritzers substantive contributions to modern and postmodern social theorizing, seeExplorations in Social Theory: From Metatheorizing to Rationalization (2001) as well as more recent work often co-authored with his many students, such as (with J. Michael Ryan) Postmodern Social Theory and Sociology: On Symbolic Exchange with a Dead Theory, in Reconstructing Postmodernism: Critical Debates (2007).
Bibliography[edit]
George Ritzer has published many monographs and textbooks. He has edited three encyclopedias, including the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. He has written approximately one hundred scholarly articles in respected journals.[3]
Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science (1975, 1980)[edit]
Based on his original article appearing in the American Sociologist,[19] this book provides a foundation for Ritzers other works onmetatheory. The piece applies Thomas Kuhn's idea of scientific paradigms to sociology and demonstrating that sociology is a science consisting of multiple paradigms. Ritzer also discusses what implications this has for the field of sociology [17]
Toward an Integrated Sociological Paradigm (1981)[edit]
In this book, Ritzer contends that sociology needs a paradigm that is integrated in order to add to the extant paradigms noted in Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science. Ritzer proposes an integrated paradigm dealing with the interrelationships between the many levels of social reality.[20]
The McDonaldization of Society (1993)[edit]
In this provocative book, George Ritzer explores how Weber's classic thoughts on rationalization take on new vitality and meaning when applied to the process of McDonaldization. He describes this as the process by which the principles of the fast food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society in the United States as well as the rest of the world. Ritzer shows how Weber's central characteristics of rationalized systems efficiency, predictability, calculability, substitution of non-human for human technology and control over uncertainty - have found widespread expression in a broad range of organized human activity, including travel, consumer products and services, education, leisure, politics and religion as well as in the fast food industry. [21]
The McDonaldization of Society 7: 20th Anniversary Edition (2012)[edit]
George Ritzers McDonaldization of Society, now celebrating its 20th anniversary, continues to stand as one of the pillars of modern day sociological thought. By linking theory to 21st century culture, this book resonates with audiences in a way that few other books do, opening their eyes to many current issues, especially in consumption and globalization. As in previous editions, the book has been updated and it offers new discussions of, among others, In-N-Out- Burger and Pret a Manger as possible antitheses ofMcDonaldization. The biggest change, however, is that the book has been streamlined to offer an even clearer articulation of theMcDonaldization thesis. The final chapter also looks at The DeMcDonaldization of Society, and concludes that while it is occurring on the surface, McDonaldization is alive and well.[22]Find McDonaldization of Society, 7 on Publisher's Website
The Globalization of Nothing, Second Edition (2007)[edit]
The Globalization of Nothing, Second Edition emphasizes the processes of globalization and how they relate to McDonaldization. As before, this book is structured around four sets of concepts addressing the issues of: "places/non-places," "things/non-things," "people/non-people," and "services/non-services." By drawing upon salient examples from everyday life, Ritzer invites the reader to examine the nuances of these concepts in conjunction with the paradoxes within the process of the globalization of nothing. Critical questions are raised throughout, and the reader is compelled not only to seek answers to these questions, but also to critically evaluate the questions as well as their answers. The current edition features a greater emphasis on the main topic of globalization: a new first chapter offers an introductory overview of globalization and globalization theory, outlining the unique ways in which these topics are addressed throughout the text. It also delves into two subprocesses of globalizationglocalization and grobalization.[23]Go to Publisher's website
Enchanting a Disenchanted World, Third Edition (2009)[edit]
Enchanting a Disenchanted World, Third Edition examines Disney, malls, cruise lines, Las Vegas, the World Wide Web, McDonald's, Planet Hollywood, credit cards, and all the other ways we now consume. The current edition was updated to reflect the recent economic recession and the impact of the internet. Ritzer continues to explore this books central thesis: that our society has undergone fundamental change because of the way and the level at which we consume. The third edition demonstrates how we have created new "cathedrals" of consumption (places that enchant us so as to entice us to stay longer and consume more) while continuing to take capitalism to a new level. These places of consumption, whether in our homes, the mall, or cyberspace, are in a constant state of "enchanting the disenchanted," luring us through new spectacles because their rational qualities are both necessary and deadening at the same time. The book also includes a wide range of theoretical perspectives Marxian, Weberian, critical theory, postmodern theory as well as a number of concepts such as hyperconsumption, implosion, simulation, and time and space to show the audience how sociological theory can be applied to everyday phenomena.[24]Find Enchanting a Disenchanted World on Publisher's Website
Leadership roles[edit]
George Ritzer has held notable positions of leadership, including [3]
2009-2010 First Chair of the ASA Section-in-Formation on Global and Transnational Sociology 2000 - American Sociological Association Distinguished Scholarly Publication
Award Committee
19891990 Chair of Section on Theoretical Sociology, ASA
Present Positions: Editor, Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Editor, Journal of Consumer Culture Associate Editor, Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change Editorial Board, Sociology Analysis Consulting
Editor: St. Martin Press/Worth, Series on Contemporary Social Issues; Sage of England, Series on Cultural Icons; McGraw-Hill.[25]
