The McDonaldization of Society : Into the Digital Age

Preface......Page 14
Chapter 1 Introduction......Page 19
Calculability......Page 20
Control......Page 21
The Advantages of McDonaldization......Page 23
A Critique of McDonaldization: The Irrationality of Rationality......Page 25
McDonald’s: Creating the “Fast-Food Factory”......Page 27
McDonald’s and Other Brick-and-Mortar Consumption Sites......Page 31
The Long Arm of McDonald’s......Page 36
McDonald’s as an American and a Global Icon......Page 40
A Look Ahead......Page 43
Chapter 2 McDonaldization Past and Present......Page 44
Thinking About the Brick-and-Mortar “Solids,” Digital “Liquids,” and the Augmented Reality of “Bricks-and-Clicks”......Page 45
Augmented Reality......Page 46
The Changing Nature of Work......Page 48
The Holocaust: The Concentration Camp and Mass-Produced Death......Page 51
Scientific Management: Finding the One Best Way......Page 53
The Assembly-Line: Turning Workers Into Robots......Page 54
Levittown: Putting Up Houses—“Boom, Boom, Boom”......Page 56
The Rise (and Fall) of Brick-and-Mortar Shopping Malls......Page 57
McDonaldization and Consumption Today......Page 59
Is “McDonaldization” Still the Best Label?......Page 60
In Consumption......Page 62
In Degree of McDonaldization......Page 63
Digital McDonaldization......Page 65
Chapter 3 Efficiency and Calculability: Consumers 1......Page 67
Efficiency: Drive-Throughs and Finger Foods......Page 69
The Fast-Food Industry: Speeding the Way From Secretion to Excretion......Page 70
Home Cooking (and Related Phenomena): “I Don’t Have Time to Cook”......Page 71
Shopping: Creating Ever More Efficient Selling Machines......Page 74
Health Care: Docs-in-a-Box......Page 75
Entertainment: Moving People (and Trash) Efficiently......Page 76
Internet Consumption Sites and Streamlining......Page 77
Uberization: It’s all About Efficiency......Page 79
Online Dating: Show Your Interest With Just a “Wink”......Page 80
Simplifying the Product......Page 81
Fast-Food Restaurants: Doing It All for Them......Page 83
Other Brick-and-Mortar Sites: Working While Consuming......Page 85
Internet Consumption Sites and the Working Consumer: Reaching Unprecedented Heights......Page 86
Emphasizing Quantity Rather Than Quality of Products......Page 88
The Fast-Food Industry: Of “Big Bites” and “Super Big Gulps”......Page 89
Higher Education: Grades and Scores......Page 91
Internet Consumption Sites: Of Big Data and the Algorithms Used to Analyze Them......Page 92
Quantification on Augmented Sites......Page 97
User-Consumable Data......Page 98
Chapter 4 Predictability and Control: Consumers 2......Page 100
Predictable Consumption Settings......Page 101
Motel Chains: “Magic Fingers” but No Norman Bates......Page 102
The Fast-Food Industry: Thank God for Those Golden Arches......Page 103
Other Brick-and-Mortar Settings: E.T. Can’t Find His Home......Page 104
Predictable Products and Processes......Page 106
Entertainment: Welcome to McMovieworld......Page 107
Brick-and-Mortar Settings: Antiseptic, Climate-Controlled, Plastic Worlds......Page 109
Online Settings: The Danger Is Rarely Physical......Page 111
The Fast-Food Industry: Get the Hell Out of There......Page 112
Other Brick-and-Mortar Settings: It’s Like Boot Camp......Page 114
Control in Online Settings: Amazon’s Increasing Power and the Drive to Limit Net Neutrality......Page 115
Controlling Conception: Even Granny Can Conceive......Page 116
Controlling Pregnancy: Choosing the Ideal Baby......Page 117
Controlling Childbirth: Birth as Pathology......Page 118
Controlling the Process of Dying: Designer Deaths......Page 121
Chapter 5 Efficiency and Calculability: McJobs and Other McDonaldized Occupations 1......Page 123
McJobs and the Dimensions of McDonaldization......Page 124
Academia: Machine-Grading and Other Efficiencies......Page 126
Medicine: On the Medical Assembly-Line......Page 127
Work Efficiency on Digital Sites: It’s Like Working in an Oven......Page 128
The Fast-Food Industry: Hustle, and a Precooked Hamburger Measures Exactly 3.875 Inches......Page 130
The Workplace: A Penny the Size of a Cart-Wheel......Page 131
Academia: Ratings and Ranking......Page 132
Sports: Nadia Comaneci Scored Exactly 79.275 Points......Page 134
Politics: There Were No Sound Bites in the Lincoln-Douglas Debate......Page 137
The Digital: The Extreme of Calculability......Page 138
Chapter 6 Predictability and Control: McJobs and Other McDonaldized Occupations 2......Page 139
The Fast-Food Industry: “Howdy, Pardner” and “Happy Trails”......Page 140
Other Brick-and-Mortar Settings: Scripted Jokes and That Disney Look......Page 142
Sports: There’s Even a McStables......Page 143
Predictability Online: Not Taking No for an Answer......Page 144
The Workplace: Do as I Say, Not as I Do......Page 146
The Fast-Food Industry: From Human to Mechanical Robots......Page 147
Health Care: Who’s Deciding Our Fate?......Page 150
Phoneheads, Online Chats, and De-Skilled Pilots: It’s Like Being in Prison......Page 151
Controlling the Process and the Product......Page 152
Food Production: Of Sea Farms and Factory Farms......Page 153
Control of Process and Products on Digital Sites: Not Really the Most Chosen......Page 155
Chapter 7 The Irrationality of Rationality: Traffic Jams on Those “Happy Trails”......Page 157
Inefficiency: Long Lines at the Checkout......Page 158
High Cost: Better Off at Home......Page 161
False Friendliness: “Hi, George” and Emojis......Page 163
Disenchantment: Where’s the Magic?......Page 165
Health and Environmental Hazards: A Day’s Calories in One Fast-Food Meal......Page 167
Homogenization: It’s No Different in Paris......Page 171
Fast-Food Restaurants: Like Eating From a Pig Trough......Page 173
Family: The Kitchen as Filling Station......Page 174
Higher Education: McLectures, McColleges, and MOOCs......Page 175
Health Care: You’re Just a Number......Page 179
Dehumanized Death: Dying Amidst Machines and Strangers......Page 181
The Irrationalities of McJobs: Just Hand the Bag Out......Page 182
Digital Sites: Dehumanization and Other Irrationalities......Page 186
Dealing With Irrationality: Of Velvet, Rubber, or Iron Cages?......Page 187
Conclusion......Page 189
Notes......Page 190
Bibliography......Page 239
Index......Page 253
About the Author......Page 281