Resisting McDonaldization

The sixth edition of this celebrated book brings together a selection of carefully chosen extracts from cases and materials with insightful author text. Each section begins with a clear overview of the law, followed by illustrating extracts from case law and from government reports and scholarly literature, which are supported by the authors' expert explanation and analysis.Opportunities for further research are highlighted by the many suggestions for additional readings that are woven throughout the text. This approach enables students to gain a rich and contextual understanding of the law of tort.George Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis argued that contemporary life is succumbing to the standardization, flexibility and practicability of fast-food service. This book brings together specially commissioned papers by leading social and cultural analysts to engage in a critical appraisal of the thesis.The contributors discuss the roots of the thesis, the rationalization of late modern life, the effects of increasing cultural commodification, the continuing prominence of American cultural and economic imperialism and the impact of globalization on social and cultural life. The strengths and weaknesses of the McDonaldization thesis are clearly evaluated and the irrational consequences of rationalization are pinpointed and critically developed. The book enlarges our understanding of how everyday life is structured by new standards of bureaucratic control and performance-related criteria and plays a major role in illuminating how identity and practice are structured today. The volume concludes with a response from George Ritzer.