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Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption
Fast Food, Credit Cards and Casinos
First Edition
- George Ritzer - University of Maryland, USA
April 2001 | 272 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
In this book, one of the leading social theorists and cultural commentators of modern times, turns his gaze on consumption. George Ritzer, author of the famous McDonaldization Thesis, demonstrates the irrational consequences of the rational desire to consume and commodify. He examines how McDonaldization might be resisted, and situates the reader in the new cultural spaces that are emerging in society: shopping malls, casino hotels, Disneyfied theme parks and Las Vegas, the new `cathedrals of consumption' as he calls them. The book shows how new processes of consumption relate to globalization theory. In illuminating discussions of the work of Thorstein Veblen and the French situationists, Ritzer unearths the roots of problems of consumption in older sociological traditions. He indicates how transgression is bound up with consumption, through an investigation of the obscene in popular and postmodern culture.
Writing to Be Read
The Irrationality of Rationality
Some Thoughts on the Future of McDonaldization
The Process of McDonaldization Is Not Uniform
Expressing America
Enchanting a Disenchanted World
Ensnared in the E-Net
The New Means of Consumption and the Situationist Perspective
Thorstein Veblen in the Age of Hyperconsumerism
Obscene from Any Angle
`With this new collection, George Ritzer further cements his reputation as a leading commentator on consumption. In so doing, he delves deeper into a variety of new territories, such as the significance of casinos, than in his previous works. The salience of the developments he so rigorously outlines for wider trends in globalization is accessibly explained. Researchers into consumption and globalization will definitely want this book on their shelves' - Alan Bryman, University of Loughborough
