JOHN ENGLE
Abstract: Globalization is a massively powerful force in the 21st century. Defined as "the world-wide diffusion of practices, expansion of relations across continents, organization of social life on a global scale, and growth of a shared global consciousness", globalization is perhaps the most noticeable feature of this Information Age. The growing influence of the ever-expanding technologies and influences stemming from this globalizing phenomenon are irrefutable. In McDonaldization: the Reader and The McDonaldization of Society, George Ritzer addresses the issue of 21st century globalization in terms of McDonaldization, a concept built on Max Weber’s ideas of rationalization and bureaucratization of society. Ritzer focuses on McDonaldization, and by association globalization, as a negative force, or grobalization, one built on dehumanizing and often ultimately irrational principles. However, Ritzer pushes his argument too far, venturing into the realm of inanity.
Abstract: Globalization is a massively powerful force in the 21st century. Defined as "the world-wide diffusion of practices, expansion of relations across continents, organization of social life on a global scale, and growth of a shared global consciousness", globalization is perhaps the most noticeable feature of this Information Age. The growing influence of the ever-expanding technologies and influences stemming from this globalizing phenomenon are irrefutable. In McDonaldization: the Reader and The McDonaldization of Society, George Ritzer addresses the issue of 21st century globalization in terms of McDonaldization, a concept built on Max Weber’s ideas of rationalization and bureaucratization of society. Ritzer focuses on McDonaldization, and by association globalization, as a negative force, or grobalization, one built on dehumanizing and often ultimately irrational principles. However, Ritzer pushes his argument too far, venturing into the realm of inanity.