Rationalization of Society
The building block of McDonaldization is Max Weber's concept of rationalization, which is the process of replacing traditional and emotional thought with reason and efficiency. Weber believed that most societies throughout history were governed by tradition and that the most significant trend in modern sociology is an increasing rationalization of every part of our daily lives. He also believed that rationalization would continue until our society would become an iron cage, dehumanizing everyone and creating an extreme level of uniformity.
Likewise, Ritzer uses McDonald's as a metaphor for the over-rationalization of society. The popularity of the restaurant itself is a perfect example of rationalization because traditional, home-cooked family meals have been replaced with meals of practicality and convenience. Continued rationalization has led to sectors beyond the fast food industry becoming increasingly uniform and automated.อ