Food for McThought (or vice versa):

How is our society, how are societies around the globe, becoming more like a McDonald’s restaurant?

• Work opportunities are changing–how many different kinds of jobs can you get at McDonald’s, and what sorts of different skills are required to do them? Are we moving into an era where specialization is required, where staying with the same employer is neither planned nor encouraged,  and where people consigned to low-wage employment need two jobs just to get by? And how can people grow and develop job skills or ‘human capital’ if we’re merely performing a few tasks (whether they be simple or complex)? McDonald’s has many many more applicants than jobs (though claims that it’s harder to get into McDonald’s than Harvard strain common sense).
• De-skilling of the workforce–like McDonald’s, many jobs now require little training, because much of the judgment workers use has been engineered out of them–workers become technicians, or as Ritzer says, ‘automatons.’ Machines don’t ask for raises, they don’t call in sick, they don’t offend the customers, and they don’t screw up orders (well ….). As for taking any creativity or thought out of the work, it doesn’t end with ‘work.’ ‘News’ at the corporate level has become a ritual that masks the cozy relationship between commercial media and national politicians. Music–at least the commercial variety–sounds the same. Hollywood ‘blockbusters’ either recycle old movies or tried and tested plot formulas.
• Emphasis on quantity over quality (making things accessible, predictable)–Artist Thomas Kinkade pioneered a technique to mass produce his paintings–variations on light in Victorian gardens and scenes evoking American patriotism–on canvas, coffee mugs, and stationery. Private online education promises a degree and a job–no mention of quality (some examples: ‘Advance your career’; ‘Education is not one size fits all’; ‘Degrees for today’s top industries’). Writer Danielle Steel has produced 2-4 novels per year since the early 1980s. She definitely tapped into a successful formula: a ‘glamorous, well-to-do heroine who proves that women can “have it all”: love, family, and career. However, Steel’s characters are beset by obstacles on their road to fulfillment …’ Not exactly Shakespeare, but a writer for her time (the period of mass marketing).
• Control–a simple example is the people who work the counter at fast food places, often reciting from script. How does the Disney Corporation control crowds at its theme parks? How does a casino control cheating on the floor? How do they make sure the house always wins in the end? How do consultants try (often unsuccessfully) to control what politicians say so that they don’t say things that might offend important portions of the electorate? Look at the restrictions on Americans’ civil liberties being proposed in the name of security. Look at the restrictions on behavior of working at a McDonald’s–as Ritzer says, employees are actually more likely to be punished for being creative, deviating from the script, taking the french fry machine and modifying the default settings …

What’s so revolutionary about McDonald’s?

Ritzer makes it compellingly clear that McDonald’s spawned a revolution of sorts. Not in the sense of overturning any structures of power, but in transforming the way people experience society, how they consume, and how they work. Examples include:

• Franchising–chains (think of malls-they’re all the same all over, right? Even in Italy, I’ve found–the stores may have Italian names, but they offer the same products. In addition, in the classic McDonaldized setting, the franchises are owned independently, BUT . . . the owners must agree to adhere to the corporate office’s principles for franchisees.
• Uniformity of product–In case you were asking why franchisees must adhere to the Mother Ship’s rules. The same mediocrity wherever you go, but it’s certainly predictable, safe.
• Control over production (from spud farmers to restaurant trainees, they are told what to grow, how to grow it, what to say, and there are consequences for deviants)
• Spawned a shift in eating habits (for both good and bad … )
• Don’t forget profit–most of McDonaldization is done for commercial gain, and it’s usually related to retail consumption (but not always–for instance, efficiency is a powerful motivator, and we all use those principles here and there to save time, money, something)

What other fast-food chains have taken on the McDonald’s model? Why? How have they tried to differentiate themselves from McDonald’s?

Where does McDonaldization come from? Max Weber, rationalization, and bureaucracy

Sociologist Max Weber, writing in the early part of the 20th century, identified this process of rationalization. At the time, it wasn’t so apparent (outside of Weber and his contemporaries) what a BIG, and possibly irreversible process, it was. Weber’s brand of sociology was often historical–he often used history and change to look for trends, patterns. For instance, he was fascinated with the 12-tone scale, and how it led to a revolution of sorts in terms of musical composition–simpler than other forms, but more easily adapted to allow for instance different instruments to play together (think orchestras, symphonies). Weber was particularly interested in what he considered the pinnacle of rationalization in terms of how society was organized–the bureaucratic organization.

We take bureaucracies for granted now–something I’m sure Weber would have lamented. They offer a powerful means to set goals and devise the means to reach them. Governments are organized bureaucratically–think of all the different cabinet-level agencies in the US Government— (a crude view of the US Dept. of Agriculture and Homeland Security) and private corporations have their own bureaucratic organization (again a very simplified General Electric structure). Few things in modern American life occur without falling under the purview of at least one large bureaucracy.

People outside the social sciences often think of bureaucracies as ‘red tape,’ or ‘government,’ and it often carries a negative connotation. But the bureaucracy is a type of organization that dominates our lives. Some of its characteristics include hierarchical organization (think of EOU, we have a president, a provost, vice presidents of student affairs and finance, deans, etc., faculty, staff, and students). The food chain is pretty clear. Without hierarchical organization, we might not know who to communicate with on a certain problem, or who would be responsible for solving it. Part of this also involves specialization (look at a list of subspecialties just in the field of microbiology). There’s a lot of information out there for one person to master. Imagine the field of medicine without subspecialties. Formal rules and procedures are also important. Think of the registration process, graduation requirements, etc. We have to offer things that are comparable with what other institutions offer, to make EOU competitive for students, and EOU degrees competitive in the job market. People hold positions, but there’s a separation of office and property. In other words, officeholders can’t bribe students to get into good classes–they have to follow rules, aren’t supposed to take home office supplies, and they’re paid salaries, to avoid a conflict of their personal interests with the overall interests of the institution. Our lives are conditioned by bureaucratic organizations–why don’t we jaywalk? Why do we attend class regularly? Why do so many people work 40 hour weeks, 8 to 5 schedules? Why do we pay taxes?

Growing societies become more formal, more ordered, more institutional (look at school, elderly care, transportation, government, customer service, news, law enforcement, child care, telecommunications, markets, recreation, time, warfare, and even the holocaust. Six million jews were exterminated in less than 10 years. The Nazis could not have done this without rationalizing the process–they made it as efficient as possible. When prisoners in concentration camps became too weak to do labor, they were sent in mass to the gas chamber, their bodies buried in mass graves. Rationalization of mass murder … So Weber, who was German (and died shortly after the end of WWI), was certainly not saying that rationalization is always better, always progress.

But why does it happen? Because societies grow, and as they do they become more complex. Think about trying to run a large university without offices, a hierarchy of staff, rules, etc. What if registration was a free-for-all in the gym? What if food stamps were available on a first come, first serve basis (how long would the money last)? For 35 million people? Bureaucracies have evolved because they are seen as more efficient, predictable ways to control people and organizations. Weber, who saw this coming, wasn’t enthusiastic about the process of rationalization. He called bureaucracies an ‘iron cage.’ Nevertheless, he said it is probably an inevitable, irreversible process. Here’s a fun way to spend you next 3-day weekend–think of areas that have actually become less formalized, less rule-bound. Organic food, you say? Well, maybe for a while. But what happens when the market for organic food grows from 5 million to 50 million? How about a movement away from fast food, towards slow food? Here’s a brief description of the slow food movement:

Slow Food is an international movement which came into being in Paris in 1989. Its head offices are in Bra, in Piedmont, in the north of Italy where the first national association was founded. Other offices have been opened in Switzerland (1995), in Germany (1998) in New York, in the USA(2000), in France (2003) in Montpellier, and this year in Japan in the northern city of Sendai. Slow Food boasts 80,000 members in more than 100 countries, organized into more than 800 local convivia. In Italy there are about 35,000 members and 360 convivia (in Italy known as condotte). In the rest of the world, there are about 450 convivia and the number is continuing to grow. The condotte in Italy and the convivia worldwide are the linchpins of the Slow Food movement and interpret and represent its philosophy at local level.
The head of the condotta or convivium is the fiduciary or convivium leader, who, through the members and the central office, organizes food and wine events and initiatives, creates moments of conviviality, raises the profile of products and promotes local artisans and wine cellars. He also organizes tasting courses and Taste Workshops and promulgates new food and wine developments and knowledge of the products and cuisines of other areas. In short, he educates in matters of taste.
Local rootedness and decentralization (plus the ensuing conservation of typicality) – and without forgetting the voluntary nature of its representatives’ contribution – are the most authentic characteristics of the movement, and the network of contacts it has built over the years represents without doubt its most valuable asset.

So . . . harkens back to a simpler time, this slow food movement?

Why is McDonaldization important?

Well, first, it’s a powerful, effective way to control people, and make money. You may notice that much of the stuff Ritzer discusses deals with the service sector of the economy. Manufacturing processes have been geared towards efficiency for some time (often to the detriment of quality products, too). But hamburgers? Oil changes? Housing subdivisions? Drive-thru church communion??

Second, it is pervasive and powerful, and companies and institutions have embraced its principles (not always consciously–Ritzer’s a sociologist, interested in understanding the phenomenon, not a business consultant helping clients use it effectively) in the far reaches of the globe. Because of its spread and influence (largely because its principles have proved so profitable), if it ends up creating harms of some sort or another, so some groups benefit (e.g., owners, investors) while others are harmed (low-wage workers), it may enter the realm of social problems. Remember what we’ve discussed–social problems adversely affect some groups, but it’s often likely that they persist because other groups are benefitting. That’s the crux of this unit: Is McDonaldization a social problem?
There are four key features of McDonaldization–how do you find it, characterize it?

Efficiency

• Streamlining processes (any examples?)
• Simplification (on the consumer’s side), for example limited menu choices
• Unpaid work (consumers check themselves out, get their own drinks, IKEA’s table-busing request)
• Efficiency isn’t new . . . McDonald’s has no monopoly on efficiency, but think of service sector. It’s one of the first to adopt it to something like food service. And as Ritzer points out, the key question may be ….. efficiency for whom?

Calculability

• Money, profit–for many of the McDonaldized applications, making more money is central.
• Quantity over quality (why is Starbuck’s ‘large’ coffee their smallest size?? Why would we call a hamburger a quarter pounder?? A Whopper? A Big Mac? Why Supersize an order?). Now we have half-gallon drink sizes.
• Engineering operations (even ‘dressing’ a Big Mac is a multi-step process, created by the geniuses at Hamburger University)

Control

• Replacing humans with machines (the French Fry vat computer, for instance… )
• Controlling humans (consumers, workers, etc.). Would you like your lecture notes supersized today?? Think WalMart; employees may be scripted, and may be punished for deviating from the script (there are lots of secret shoppers out there). My guess is many people in this class have experienced this, right here in unMcDonaldized La Grande! Think the media, unpatriotic behavior; think about politicians–why are many of them saying the same thing? Is it more comforting for donors to the major parties? Is the ‘product’ more predictable, more uniform, and likely to increase campaign donations (i.e., sales)?

Predictability

• Uniformity of product–every quarter pounder with rubber cheese, every french fry, should taste the same, whether it’s made in Sheboygen, Wisconsin, Tokyo, or Guadalajara. Can you think of other examples of companies that have tried to make their products predictable? Why would they do this? Are the chances good that it’s mostly large chains that do it? How about Hollywood? How many actual plot formulas are used to produce mainstream pictures (there’s the sexual tension-leads-to-romance plot line, the dun-me-wrong leads to violent retribution [only available in the US!], the wacky sidekicks [starring Owen Wilson and/or Vince Vaughn!], the teen-coming-of-age story, or  . . . . the remake–Batman version 3.0 in the works! And Conan, and yes, finally … Barbarella! However, no takers yet on Tourist Trap)? How about music? Ever wonder why a group’s second album often sounds just like the first, with a few different words and chords? Hardly lost on musicians (Pink Floyd’s ‘Have a cigar‘ or XTC’s ‘Liarbird‘).

You will know you understand this when you can apply these four principles to something far outside the fast food industry. Music, art, organized religion, politics, media, etc.