George Ritzer
| George Ritzer | |
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October 14, 1940 New York City, United States |
| Nationality | American |
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Main interests
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Sociology · Social theory · Metatheory · Theory of rationalization · Political sociology · Economic sociology · sociology of consumption |
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Notable ideas
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Created the concept of McDonaldization · consumption · something vs. nothing · prosumption · globalization · grobalization · glocalization · metatheory |
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Influences
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George Ritzer (born October 14, 1940) is an American sociologist, professor, and author who studies globalization, metatheory, patterns of consumption, and modern and postmodern social theory. His most notable contribution to date is his concept of McDonaldization, which draws upon Max Weber's idea of rationalization through the lens of the fast food industry. In addition to creating his own theories, Ritzer has also written many general sociology books, including Introduction to Sociology (2012) as well as Essentials to Sociology (2014), and modern and postmodern social theory textbooks. Currently, Ritzer is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Ritzer was born in 1940 to a Jewish family in upper Manhattan, New York City. His father and mother were employed as a taxi cab driver and secretary, respectively, in order to support him and his younger brother. Ritzer later described his upbringing as "upper lower class". When his father contracted a strange illness, speculated to be from his job as a taxi driver, Ritzer's mother had to break open the family's piggy bank, where they stored half dollars, in order to provide for the family. Despite dealing with some tough economic times, he never felt deprived relative to others while growing up in a "working-class, multi-ethnic neighborhood".
George Ritzer graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1958, stating to have "encountered the brightest people I have ever met in my life". While at Bronx High School of Science, Ritzer received a New York State Regents Scholarship which would follow him to whichever college he chose to attend.
Ritzer began his higher education at City College of New York, a free college at the time. His scholarship in addition to the free college tuition proved to be a benefit to the economic positioning of the Ritzer family. While at CCNY, Ritzer initially planned to focus on business, but he later changed his major to accounting. After graduating from CCNY in 1962, Ritzer decided that he was interested in pursuing business again. He was accepted into the M.B.A. program at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, where he received a partial scholarship. While at Michigan, his official academic interest was human relations; however, he had many other intellectual hobbies, such as reading Russian novels. Ritzer reported that at Michigan, as he was able to grow and improve as a student. However, during his time at Michigan, he remembers being heavily involved in global events occurring at the time. He reports memories of going to the Michigan Union to watch the happenings of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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