McDonaldization

Abstract

McDonaldization is the most prominent and powerful instance of rationalization in contemporary societies. This article provides a critical assessment of Max Weber's rationalization thesis, develops an alternative to Weber's classical argument, and explores the impact of local cultures on the McDonaldization process. Whereas modernization could be said to follow a linear path of historical development, the differentiation of modernity and the rise of hybrid cultures can be defined as an example of “liquid differentiation.” The argument is that Fordist models of unidimensional rationalization are being replaced by a new dynamic in which there is a permanent but unstable interaction between linear and liquid modernity. This concept of a dynamic is important because it avoids the simple dichotomy between McDonaldized modernity and postmodernity.