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Mcdonaldization
Mcdonaldization
principles of the fast food restaurants are dominating more and more sectors of the American
Society as well as the rest of the world. The term was used for the first time in 1993 by
sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society. Where Max Weber used
the model of the bureaucracy to represent the direction of this changing society, Ritzer sees the
2004:553). It has been argued that one of the examples of this phenomenon can be education and
as the rest of the world is copying the education structure of the States for it has been seen to be
more effective, let’s take an example within the country, University of Mississippi.
Ritzer described five of the principles of the model which can be summed up into
four primary components: efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. Let us talk about
predictability here. A rational society does not look for or expect any kind of surprises. People
want to know what to expect when they enter a setting or place, i.e. they base the things they are
looking for on the previous services given by the organization. In case of the University, an
undergraduate in psychology expects a lecture on Psy 202 (Elementary Statistics) as per his
schedule rather than Math 261 which would be an element of surprise that defies rationality. The
order to ensure predictability over time and place, a rational society must emphasize such things
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rationalization. Though it might mean control over aspects of life like birth, death etc., it is more
oriented towards controlling other people whether it be superiors controlling the workers or non-
human technologies taking control over working human resources. In case of technological
advances, though they still have human professors giving lectures in class, online courses have
become really popular nowadays. Considered as a more efficient way of teaching and learning, it
also increases the predictability as a different course cannot be created every other time and
hence, it works in subsequently altered basic structure. Use of multimedia in classrooms also
increases efficiency and predictability. Moreover, use of computers to mark examinations has
become really efficient for lecturers. This way, taking off burden from the human resources also
helps in increasing the calculability as the resources can be devoted to providing more facilities
Though a much debatable topic, Universities are a perfect example to portray the
McDonaldization model of rationalization for they are efficient, organized and managed, try to
provide as much as possible, are advancing in technology and are also striving to control
uncertainty, the younger generation. However, all these rationalization measures are going in a
certain direction of killing creativity. Slater mentions that online courses, especially, are
minimizing or completely eradicating the link between a teacher and a student which is essential
concept more flexible can be adopted so as to keep the society rational and people creative and
imaginative.