The modern sociological theories forwarded by George Ritzer involve three that are central to his views of sociology: Structural Functionalism, Critical Theory, and McDonaldization. RitzerÆs expansion of the views of Weber and Durkheim and his critical theories on Marx and capitalism has led to his view of the ôMcDonaldizationö of society û ôthe increasing rationalization of the routine tasks of everyday lifeö (Farrall, 2003, 1). Before addressing this central thesis of RitzerÆs sociological theory, we will address his views in relation to critical theory of sociology and structural functionalism.
RitzerÆs views of sociology focus on how the relationships between social institutions impact societies and the individuals living within them. From this structural functionalist viewpoint, Ritzer views sociology as a multidisciplinary paradigm. Modernity is linked to the growth of capitalism, the increasing control of bureaucratic modes of authority, and the rise of new kinds of social solidarity and unity. Modern daily life plays out in a context of powerful industrialized states, state-of-the-art technologies, changing patterns and methods of producing and consuming, the creation of enormous wealth and unparalleled capacity for waste and destruction. While these structural institutions Ritzer (1992) maintains that society would breakdown, ôwithout the normative regulation of means, society would be afflicted by chaos, anomie, and apathy...social disorderö (239).
Above the social system is one that impacts it strongly, the cultural system. For it is the cultural system that provides a unity or cohesion to society by formulating the driving norms and values that achieve a measure of consensus in order to achieve the goals of society in meetings its need û as orchestrated by its dominant institutions and the wealthy class. As Ritzer (1992) calls it, the cultural system represents a societyÆs ôsocial stock of knowled...