Beyond McDonaldization provides new concepts of higher education for the twenty-first century in a unique manner, challenging much that is written in mainstream texts. This book undertakes a reassessment of the growth of McDonaldization in higher education by exploring how the application of Ritzer’s four features efficiency, predictability, calculability and control has become commonplace. This wide-ranging text discusses arguments surrounding the industrialisation of higher education, with case studies and contributions from a wide range of international authors. Written in an accessible style, Beyond McDonaldization examines questions such as: Can we regain academic freedom whilst challenging the McDonaldization of thought and ideas? Is a McDonaldization of every aspect of academic life inevitable? Will the new focus on student experience damage young people? Why is a McDonaldized education living on borrowed time? Is it possible to recreate the university of the past or must we start anew? Does this industrialisation meet the educational needs of developing economies? This book brings international discussions on the changing world of higher education and the theory of McDonaldization together, seeking to provide a positive future vision of higher education. Analysing and situating the discussion of higher education within a wider social, political and cultural context, this ground-breaking text will have a popular appeal with students, academics and educationalists.

The author is a proud sponsor of the 2020 SAGE Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award—enabling graduate students and early career faculty to attend the annual ASA pre-conference teaching and learning workshop. The book that made "McDonaldization" part of the lexicon of contemporary sociological theory, read by hundreds of thousands of students, is now in its Ninth Edition! George Ritzer′s seminal work of critical sociology, The McDonaldization of Society, continues to stand as one of the pillars of modern day sociological thought. Building on the argument that the fast food restaurant has become the model for the rationalization process today, this book links theory to contemporary life in a globalized world and resonates with students in a way that few other books do. Ritzer opens students’ eyes to many current issues and shows how McDonaldization’s principles apply to other settings, especially in the areas of consumption and globalization. This new edition has been significantly reoriented to reflect our experience of McDonaldization in the world of online consumption. New to this Edition Examines how retailers like Amazon represent a new era of "datafication," the transformation of vast amounts of information into quantifiable data. Discusses how the digital world has almost unlimited potential to turn consumers into "prosumers" doing volunteer work formerly done by paid employees. This edition is more streamlined than previous editions to sharpen its argument and message, and make it more useable as a secondary reading in a wide range of courses

In this major new book, the author of the bestselling McDonaldization of Society provides an exploration of one of the most innovative and imaginative sociological theses of the last decade of the twentieth century - `McDonaldization'. Part One centres on a discussion of Karl Mannheim's theory of rationalization. The author also assesses the degree to which sociology in general and sociological theory in particular have been `McDonaldized'. The second part demonstrates the empirical reach of the `McDonaldization' process with discussions on work, credit and globalization. Part Three moves beyond `McDonaldization' to the worlds of `new means of consumption' and the postmodern perspectives that best illuminate them. The author

Where not so long ago professors "owned" the tools of scholarship, controlled the labor process, and certified the quality of our product, the process of McDonaldization has torn this relation asunder. Rapidly increasing student faculty ratios, mass classes, and the use of low-wage teaching assistants and adjunct faculty have changed the job of professor (p. 64 ff.). Faculty are pressured to recruit and retain students seen as "customers" (p. 67) and to compete with private for-profit [End Page 368] universities (p. 71-72). With declining government aid for higher education, students increasingly see education as a form of consumption and demand control, choice, and "edutainment" (p. 64 and elsewhere). This is seen most obviously in "course evaluations" which some of the authors refer to as "customer satisfaction surveys" (p. 36, 132, 147). At the same time, faculty are relentlessly pushed to publish, engage in funded research, and develop new technological competencies. Control over product is threatened as universities make demands on ownership of intellectual property including patents and licenses, publications and courseware (p. 79-81). From the perspective of faculty, McDonaldization represents a dramatic loss of pedagogical authority. Simultaneously, the state, which still pays for much of the cost of education as a "public good," is increasing demands for accountability and standards. This takes the form of schemes for standardizing promotion and tenure, quantifying and measuring the product being delivered, and attempting to assure quality.

George Ritzer’s McDonaldization of Society, now celebrating its’ 20thanniversary, continues to stand as one of the pillars of modern day sociological thought. By linking theory to 21st century culture, this book resonates with students 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 of McDonaldization. The biggest change, however, is that the book has been radically streamlined to offer an even clearer articulation of the now-famous McDonaldization thesis.

The fast-food business, most notably McDonalds, revolutionised not only the restaurant business but also American society and ultimately, the world. Using the model of McDonalds, the author draws on the theories of Weber to produce a social critique.

Beyond McDonaldization provides new concepts of higher education for the twenty-first century in a unique manner, challenging much that is written in mainstream texts. This book undertakes a reassessment of the growth of McDonaldization in higher education by exploring how the application of Ritzer’s four features efficiency, predictability, calculability and control has become commonplace. This wide-ranging text discusses arguments surrounding the industrialisation of higher education, with case studies and contributions from a wide range of international authors. Written in an accessible style, Beyond McDonaldization examines questions such as: Can we regain academic freedom whilst challenging the McDonaldization of thought and ideas? Is a McDonaldization of every aspect of academic life inevitable? Will the new focus on student experience damage young people? Why is a McDonaldized education living on borrowed time? Is it possible to recreate the university of the past or must we start anew? Does this industrialisation meet the educational needs of developing economies? This book brings international discussions on the changing world of higher education and the theory of McDonaldization together, seeking to provide a positive future vision of higher education. Analysing and situating the discussion of higher education within a wider social, political and cultural context, this ground-breaking text will have a popular appeal with students, academics and educationalists.