Editing George Ritzer (section)

== Biography ==

=== Personal life ===

Ritzer was born in 1940 to a Jewish family in upper [[Manhattan|Manhattan, New York City.]] Ritzer's father was a taxicab driver and his mother was a secretary; he also has one brother. Ritzer described his upbringing as "upper lower class".<ref name=being-nothingness>{{citation|title=Being (George Ritzer) and Nothingness: An Interview
|journal=The American Sociologist
|volume=37
|issue=4
|pages=84–96
|last1=Dandaneau
|first1=Steve P.
|last2=Dodsworth
|first2=Robin M.
|year=2006
|doi=10.1007/BF02915070
|s2cid=144904661
}}</ref>  When his father contracted what Ritzer referred to as "a strange illness," speculated to be from his job as a taxi driver, Ritzer's mother had to do so much as to break open the family's piggy bank, where they stored half dollars, to provide for the family.<ref name="being-nothingness"/> Living a marginal economic existence, he never felt deprived relative to others while growing up in a "working-class, multi-ethnic neighborhood".<ref name=being-nothingness />

His father never received his high school diploma and therefore, had no strong desire for Ritzer to achieve educationally. Ritzer described his father as being “a very bright man who simply grew up in a different time”. His parents in general did not push him to pursue higher education or knew much about it. Instead, it was more “’ go to college because that’s what people are doing,’ instead of that classic middle class Jewish family push to go to the elite universities’”.<ref name="being-nothingness" />

In an interview, Ritzer noted a formative experience that occurred while he attended the Bronx High School of Science, he felt that he was “a pretty average kind of student” as he was among incredibly intelligent individuals. Due to his surroundings, it took him a while to realize that he “was a little bit above average.” In addition, despite the high school being largely orientated toward the sciences and his classmates sharing these interests, Ritzer had no interest in math or science.<ref name="being-nothingness" />

While in high school, Ritzer had a friend who he would read the same classic novel such as ''Crime and Punishment'' with, and then walk around the city walking miles discussing the book alone. He gave this example in an interview where he was explaining the nature of his high school and the students who went there. Ritzer also noted that “it was just sort of known that if you were bright or saw yourself as bright then you wanted to go to the Bronx High School of Science” to further exemplify the environment he was in during high school.<ref name="being-nothingness" />

Growing up, Ritzer was an avid sports player. He often played basketball, in large part due to his height, and other sports like baseball. He also read a lot even as he notes that he wasn’t “very academically inclined".<ref name="being-nothingness" />

Ritzer and his wife, Sue (married 1963), have two children and five grandchildren. Despite being a workaholic, he has always made time for his family. Ritzer also loves to travel, oftentimes using the work trips as a time for a mini vacation with his wife.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|last1=Pratt|first1=Beverly|title=Faculty Spotlight: George Ritzer|url=http://umdsocy.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/faculty-spotlight-george-ritzer-written-by-beverly-pratt/|website=IMAGINE: newsblog|publisher=Department of Sociology, University of Maryland, College Park|access-date=20 October 2014|date=2010-05-21|archive-date=2023-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123110515/https://umdsocy.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/faculty-spotlight-george-ritzer-written-by-beverly-pratt/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Ritzer resides in Maryland with Sue, where he owns three homes. He noted in an interview regarding consumption how the success of his books has “allowed him to acquire things, mostly houses” and gives him the ability to live life the way he wants to. Since he likes to be outdoors, he wants homes that will allow him to do so. For example, due to the restriction of winter months in Maryland which inhibits his ability to walk outside, he purchased a place in Florida where he can continue his hobby of walking “three or four miles a day” when he’s not writing inside.<ref name="consuming-passion" />

=== Education and early employment ===
Ritzer graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1958,<ref name=ritzervitae>{{cite web|last1=Ritzer|first1=George|title=Vitae|url=http://georgeritzer.wordpress.com/vitae/|website=georgeritzer.com|publisher=Word Press|access-date=5 October 2014|date=2012-05-02|archive-date=2023-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123110524/https://georgeritzer.wordpress.com/vitae/|url-status=live}}</ref> stating to have "encountered the brightest people I have ever met in my life".<ref name="being-nothingness" /> 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.<ref name=being-nothingness />

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.<ref name=being-nothingness /> While at CCNY, Ritzer initially planned to focus on business, but he later changed his major to accounting. Ritzer stated in an interview that he was a student at CCNY when he first stepped inside a [[McDonald's|McDonalds]], which greatly juxtaposed the distinct culture of restaurants and stores in New York. This event unknowingly catalyzed Ritzer's study and major theory of [[McDonaldization]].<ref name=":2" />

After graduating from CCNY in 1962,<ref name="ritzervitae" /> 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, 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.<ref name="being-nothingness"/>

After graduating from [[University of Michigan|The University of Michigan]] in 1964,<ref name=ritzervitae /> Ritzer began working in personnel management for the [[Ford Motor Company]], however, this proved to be a negative experience for him. His managers mistakenly hired three people, more than was necessary, for the one job, leaving him idle and unoccupied. As he once said: "[i]f we had two hours of work a day, it was a lot."<ref name="being-nothingness"/> Nevertheless, he was always expected to appear busy. He would constantly wander around the factory for hours observing people working, causing many of the workers and foremen to become hostile towards him. Moreover, Ritzer also found problems within the management structure at Ford. Most of the younger people with advanced degrees defied their less-educated authorities. Ritzer said, "I'd like to see a society in which people are free to be creative, rather than having their creativity constrained or eliminated."<ref>{{cite web|last=Ritzer|first=George|title=George Ritzer|url=http://georgeritzer.com/|access-date=2012-10-05|archive-date=2022-09-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929034527/http://georgeritzer.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> This feeling of dehumanization is very relevant in his future sociological work of [[McDonaldization]].<ref name="McDonaldization20th" /> Furthermore, he found himself constrained and unable to do anything creative while working at Ford, encouraging him to apply to Ph.D. programs.<ref name="being-nothingness"/>

Ritzer enrolled in Cornell University's School of Labor and Industrial Relations Ph.D. program in Organizational Behavior in 1965, ironically returning to another business program despite his distaste for his time at Ford.<ref name=being-nothingness /> There, his adviser Harrison Trice suggested that he minor in sociology. After a conversation with the head of the department, Gordon Streib, Ritzer realized that he knew nothing about sociology and was then urged to read "Broom and Selznick’s Introduction to Sociology" and found himself enthralled with the subject matter.<ref name=being-nothingness /> He continued to succeed in sociology courses at the graduate level. As a testament to his interest and dedication to the subject, he received an A+ on a 102-page paper he wrote for a course on American society. His professor stated that the paper was "too long not to be good".<ref name=being-nothingness /> This experience as well as out-reading the other sociology students in a small seminar with Margaret Cussler allowed Ritzer to become more confident as a sociology student due to his ability to outwork the competition. He attributed his talent of being able to compete with well-read and experienced sociology students to his work ethic.<ref name="being-nothingness"/>

Ritzer never earned a degree in sociology but studied psychology and business. He began his sociological work writing theory connecting his minimal sociological education alongside the experiences that struck him when first experiencing the [[McDonald's|McDonalds]] chain stores.<ref name=":2" />  As he said in a later interview, "I basically trained myself as a social theorist, and so I had to learn it all as I went."  Despite this challenge, Ritzer found that not being trained in social theory was advantageous for him, because his reasoning was not limited to a particular theoretical perspective.<ref name="being-nothingness"/>

=== Academic awards ===

* Honorary Doctorate from [[La Trobe University]], Melbourne, Australia
* Honorary Patron, University Philosophical Society, [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College]], Dublin
* American Sociological Association's Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award
* 2012–2013 Robin William Lectureship from the [[Eastern Sociological Society]]<ref name="socy.umd.edu">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-23 |title=George Ritzer: Distinguished University Professor Emeritus |url=https://socy.umd.edu/facultyprofile/ritzer/george |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=University of Maryland |archive-date=2023-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117155144/https://socy.umd.edu/facultyprofile/ritzer/george |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== McDonaldization ===
George Ritzer wrote ''The McDonaldization of Society.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rojek|first1=Chris|date=23 January 2007|title=George Ritzer and the Crisis of the Public Intellectual|journal=Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies|volume=29|issue=1|pages=3–21|doi=10.1080/10714410600552241|issn=1071-4413|s2cid=145450920}}</ref>''

Ritzer's idea of [[McDonaldization]] is an extension of [[Max Weber]]'s (1864–1920) classical theory of the [[rationalization (sociology)|rationalization]] of modern society and culture. Weber famously used the terminology "[[iron cage]]" to describe the stultifying, [[Franz Kafka|Kafkaesque]] effects of bureaucratized life,<ref>{{cite book|last=Farganis|first=James|title=Readings in Social Theory, 6th Edition|year=2010|publisher=McGraw-Hill Publishing Company|location=New York|isbn=978-0078111556}}</ref> and Ritzer applied this idea to an influential social system in the twenty-first century: [[McDonald's]]. Ritzer argues that McDonald's restaurants have become the better example of current forms of [[instrumental rationality]] and its ultimately irrational and harmful consequences on people.<ref>Ritzer, G. ''The McDonaldization of Society''. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, 1996</ref>
Ritzer shared similar views with Weber about rationalization. While Weber claims that “the most sublime values have retreated from public life”, Ritzer claims that even our food is subject to rationalization, whether it is “the McDonaldized experience or the steak dinner that is subjected to the fact that it contains 2,000 calories and 100 grams of fat."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allan |first1=Kenneth |title=Explorations in Classical Sociological Theory: Seeing the Social World |date=2010 |publisher=Pine Forge Press }}</ref>”Ritzer identifies four rationalizing dimensions of McDonald's that contribute to the process of McDonaldization, claiming that McDonald's aims to increase:
# [[Efficiency]]: McDonald's delivers products quickly and easily without inputting an excessive amount of money. The "McDonald's model," and therefore the McDonald's operations, follow a predesigned process that leads to a specified end, using productive means.<ref name= McDonaldization20th >{{cite book|last1=Ritzer|first1=George|title=The McDonaldization of Society: 20th Anniversary Edition|date=2013|publisher=Sage Publications|location=Thousand Oaks, California|isbn=9781452226699}}</ref> The efficiency of the McDonald's model has infiltrated other modern-day services such as completing tax forms online, easy weight loss programs, [[The Walt Disney Company]] FASTPASSes, and online dating services, [[eHarmony]] and [[match.com]].<ref name=McDonaldization20th /><ref name="Massey 2012 453–455">{{cite book|last=Massey|first=Garth|title=Readings For Sociology, 7th Edition|year=2012|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|location=New York|isbn=9780393927009|pages=[https://archive.org/details/readingsforsocio0005unse/page/453 453–455]|url=https://archive.org/details/readingsforsocio0005unse/page/453}}</ref>
#[[Calculability]]: America has grown to connect the quantity of a product with the quality of a product and that "bigger is better".<ref name=McDonaldization20th /> The "McDonald's model" is influential in this conception due to providing a lot of food for not that much money. While the end products feed into the connection between the quantity and quality of the product, so does the McDonald's production process. Throughout the food production, everything is standardized and highly calculated: the size of the beef patty, the number of french fries per order, and the time spent in a franchise. The high calculability of the McDonald's franchise also extends over into academics. It is thought that the academic experience, in high school and higher education, can be quantified into one number, the [[GPA]]. Also, calculability leads to the idea that the longer the resume or list of degrees, the better the candidate, during an application process. In addition to academics being affected by the McDonaldization in society, sports, most specifically basketball, have also been affected. It used to be that basketball was a more laid-back, slow-paced sort of game, yet through the creation of fast-food and McDonald's, a [[shot clock]] was added to increase not only the speed of the game but also the number of points scored.<ref name=McDonaldization20th /> 
#[[Predictability]]: Related to calculability, customers know what to expect from a given producer of goods or services. For example, customers know that every [[Big Mac]] from McDonald's is going to be the same as the next one; there is an anticipated predictability to the menu as well as the overall experience. To maintain the predictability for each franchise, there has to be "discipline, order, systematization, formalization, routine, consistency, and a methodical operation".<ref name=McDonaldization20th /> The predictability of the McDonald's franchise also appears through the golden arches in front of every franchise as well as the scripts that the employees use on the customers. [[The Walt Disney Company]] also has regulations in place, like dress codes for men and women, in order to add to the predictability of each amusement park or Disney operation. Predictability has also extended into movie sequels and TV shows. With each movie sequel, like ''[[Spy Kids 4]]'', or TV show, ''[[Law & Order (franchise)|Law & Order]]'' and its spinoffs, the plot is predictable and usually follow a preconceived model.<ref name=McDonaldization20th />
#[[Control (management)|Control]]: McDonald's restaurants pioneered the idea of highly specialized tasks for all employees to ensure that all human workers are operating at exactly the same level. This is a way to keep a complicated system running smoothly; rules and regulations that make efficiency, calculability, and predictability possible.<ref name="Massey 2012 453–455"/> Oftentimes, the use of non-human technology, such as computers, is used. The McDonald's food is already "pre-prepared", the potatoes are already cut and processed, just needing to be fried and heated, and the food preparation process is monitored and tracked. The computers tell the managers how many hamburgers are needed at the lunchtime rush and other peak times and the size and shape of the pickles as well as how many go on a hamburger is managed and controlled.<ref name=McDonaldization20th /> The control aspect of McDonaldization has extended to other businesses, [[Sylvan Learning]] and phone operating systems, and even birth and death. Every step of the learning process at Sylvan, the U-shaped tables and instruction manuals, is controlled as well as each step of the birthing process, in modern-day hospitals, and the process of dying.<ref name=McDonaldization20th />

McDonaldization is profitable, desirable, and at the cutting edge of technological advances. Many "McDonald's" aspects of society are beneficial to the advancement and enhancement of human life. Some claim that rationalization leads to "more egalitarian" societies. For example, supermarkets and large grocery stores offer variety and availability unlike smaller farmer's markets from generations past. The McDonaldization of society also allows operations to be more productive, improve the quality of some products, and produce services and products at lower cost.<ref name=McDonaldization20th /> The Internet has provided countless new services to people that were previously impossible, such as checking bank statements without having to go to a bank or being able to purchase things online without leaving the house.<ref>{{cite book|last=Massey|first=Garth|title=Readings For Sociology, 7th Edition|year=2012|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|location=New York|isbn=9780393927009|pages=[https://archive.org/details/readingsforsocio0005unse/page/457 457]|url=https://archive.org/details/readingsforsocio0005unse/page/457}}</ref> These things are all positive effects of the rationalization and McDonaldization of society.

However, McDonaldization also alienates people and creates a disenchantment of the world. The increased standardization of society dehumanizes people and institutions. The "assembly line" feel of fast-food restaurants is transcending many other facets of life and removing humanity from previously human experiences.<ref name="Mann 2007 381–384">{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=381–384}}</ref><ref name="Massey 2012 456">{{cite book|last=Massey|first=Garth|title=Readings For Sociology, 7th Edition|year=2012|publisher=W.W. Norton & Company|location=New York|isbn=9780393927009|pages=[https://archive.org/details/readingsforsocio0005unse/page/456 456]|url=https://archive.org/details/readingsforsocio0005unse/page/456}}</ref> Through implementing machines and computers in society, humans can start to "behave like machines" and therefore "become replaced by machines".<ref name=McDonaldization20th />

''The McDonaldization of Society'' has been translated into over a dozen languages and is arguably one of the best selling monographs in the history of American sociology.

=== Consumption ===
{{Anti-consumerism |People}}
Karl Marx was one of the first to establish a field of sociological theory surrounding [[Consumption (sociology)|consumption]] and its flaws. Consumption refers to the participation in purchasing and absorbing the products of capitalist society, as well as their effect. The topic of consumption in sociology has skyrocketed since Marx's time, primarily in Europe from the mid-late 1900s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 21, 2019 |title=The Sociology of Consumption |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-consumption-3026292#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways%3A%20The%20Sociology%20of,%C3%89mile%20Durkheim%2C%20and%20Max%20Weber. |access-date=October 1, 2023 |website=ThoughtCo. |archive-date=October 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003020850/https://www.thoughtco.com/sociology-of-consumption-3026292#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways%3A%20The%20Sociology%20of,%C3%89mile%20Durkheim%2C%20and%20Max%20Weber. |url-status=live }}</ref> Since, consumption has become a basis of study within the science. An early admirer of [[Jean Baudrillard]]’s ''Consumer Society'' (1970),<ref name="consuming-passion">{{Cite journal |last1=Dandaneau |first1=Steven P. |last2=Dodsworth |first2=Robin M. |date=September 2008 |title=A consuming passion: An interview with George Ritzer |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10253860802190553 |journal=Consumption Markets & Culture |language=en |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=191–201 |doi=10.1080/10253860802190553 |s2cid=144226732 |issn=1025-3866}}</ref> Ritzer is a leading proponent of the study of [[consumption (sociology)|consumption]].  In addition to his beliefs expressed in ''[[The McDonaldization of Society]]'', the most important sources for Ritzer’s sociology of consumption are his edited Explorations in the ''Sociology of Consumption: Fast Food Restaurants, Credit Cards and Casinos'' (2001), ''Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption'' (2nd edition 2005, 3rd edition 2009), and ''Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit-Card Society'' (1995). Ritzer is also a founding editor, with Don Slater, of [[Sage Publications|Sage]]'s ''[[Journal of Consumer Culture]]''.<ref name="Vita: George Ritzer"/>

=== Prosumption ===
First coined by [[Alvin Toffler]] in 1980, the term [[Prosumer|prosumption]] is used by Ritzer and Jurgenson,<ref>{{citation |title=Production, Consumption, Prosumption : The nature of capitalism in the age of the digital 'prosumer' |journal=Journal of Consumer Culture |volume=10 |pages=13–36 |last1=Ritzer |first1=George |last2=Jurgenson |first2=Nathan |year=2010 |url=http://joc.sagepub.com/content/10/1/13.short |doi=10.1177/1469540509354673 |s2cid=145687378}}</ref> to break down the [[false dichotomy]] between production and consumption and describe the dual identity of economic activities. Ritzer argues that prosumption is the primordial form of economic activities, and the current ideal separation between production and consumption is aberrant and distorted due to the effect of both Industrial Revolution and post-WWII American consumption boom. It has only recently become popularly acknowledged that the existence of prosumption as activities on the internet and Web 2.0 resemble prosumption much more so than production or consumption individually. Various online activities require the input of consumers such as Wikipedia entries, Facebook profiles, Twitter, Blog, Myspace, Amazon preferences, eBay auctions, Second Life, etc.
Ritzer argues that we should view all economic activities on a continuum of prosumption with '''prosumption as production''' (p-a-p) and '''prosumption as consumption''' (p-a-c) on each pole.

=== Something vs. Nothing ===
According to Ritzer, "Something" is a locally conceived and controlled social form that is comparatively rich in distinctive substantive content. It also describes things as being fairly unusual. "Nothing" is "a social form that is generally centrally conceived, controlled and comparatively devoid of distinctive substantive content" <ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=396–397}}</ref> "Nothing" usually aims at the standardized and homogenous, while "something" refers to things that are personal or have local flavor. Examples of "nothing" are [[McDonald's]], [[Wal-Mart]], [[Starbucks]], credit cards, and the [[Internet]]. Examples of "something" are local sandwich shops, local hardware stores, family arts and crafts places, or a local breakfast cafe.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=398}}</ref>
Ritzer believes that things that embody the "nothing" component of this dichotomy are taking over and pushing "something" out of society. He explains the advantages and disadvantages of both "something" and "nothing" in ''The McDonaldization of Society''.<ref name="Massey 2012 456"/>

=== Globalization ===
In Ritzer's research, [[globalization]] refers to the rapidly increasing worldwide integration and interdependence of societies and cultures.<ref name="Ritzer, G 2004">Ritzer, G. ''The Globalization of Nothing'', [[Pine Forge Press]], Thousand Oaks, 2004,</ref> This book presents a sophisticated argument about the nature of globalization in terms of the consumption of goods and services. He defines it as involving a worldwide diffusion of practices, relations, and forms of social organization and the growth of global consciousness.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=396}}</ref> The concept of "something" vs. "nothing" plays a large part in understanding Ritzer's Globalization. Society is becoming bombarded with "nothing" and Ritzer seems to believe that the globalization of "nothing" is almost unstoppable <ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=402}}</ref>  Ritzer's aforementioned ''The Globalization of Nothing'' (2004/2007) stakes out a provocative perspective in the ongoing and voluminous globalization discourse. For Ritzer, globalization typically leads to consumption of vast quantities of serial social forms that have been centrally conceived and controlled – one [[McDonald's]] hamburger, i.e., one instance of nothing again and again- dominates social life (Ritzer, George. 2004. ''The Globalization of Nothing''. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press).
To better understand globalization, it can be broken down into a few characteristics:
* The beginning of global communication through different media like television and the Internet
* The formation of a "global consciousness"<ref name="Mann 2007 381–384"/>

In addition to ''The Globalization of Nothing'', Ritzer has edited ''The Blackwell Companion to Globalization'' (2007), written ''Globalization: A Basic Text'' (2009), and edited an ''Encyclopedia of Globalization'' (forthcoming). Insight into Ritzer's distinctive approach to globalization is available via a special review symposium in the Sage journal ''[[Thesis Eleven]]'' (Number 76, February 2004).<ref>[http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/glocalization.asp Glocalization.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924073454/http://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/glocalization.asp |date=2012-09-24 }} Investopedia.</ref>

=== Grobalization ===
In his book ''The Globalization of Nothing'' (2004), Ritzer quotes that globalization consists of [[glocalization]] and grobalization.<ref name="GoN Xiii">Ritzer, George (2004). The ''Globalization of Nothing.'' Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. Xiii</ref>
Grobalization, a term coined by Ritzer himself, refers to "imperialistic ambitions of nations, corporations, organizations, and the like and their desire, indeed need, to impose themselves on various geographic areas".<ref name="Ritzer, George 2004 p.73">Ritzer, George (2004). ''The Globalization of Nothing''. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. p.73</ref>
As opposite to glocalization, grobalization aims to "overwhelm local".<ref name="GoN Xiii"/> Its ultimate goal is to see profit grow through unilateral homogenization, thus earning its name ''gro''balization. Capitalism, [[Americanization]], and [[McDonaldization]] are all parts of grobalization.<ref name="Ritzer, George 2004 p.73"/>

Grobalization involves three motor forces: [[capitalism]], McDonaldization, and Americanization. Grobalization creates a world where:
#Things are more homogenous and ubiquitous.
#Larger forces overwhelm the power of people to adapt and innovate in ways that preserve their autonomy.
#Social processes are coercive, determining the nature of local communities, which have little room to maneuver.
#Consumer goods and the media are key forces that largely dictate the nature of the self and the groups a person joins.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=400}}</ref>

Ritzer provides American textbook as an example of grobalization. In his book, ''The Globalization of Nothing'', he quotes that textbooks are "oriented to rationalizing, McDonaldizing, the communication of information."<ref name="Ritzer, George 2004 p.175">Ritzer, George (2004). ''The Globalization of Nothing''. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press. p.175</ref> Students, rather than evaluating the competing ideas, instead absorb the information given to them. Yet, these textbooks are surprisingly sold out worldwide, only to be slightly revised to reflect local standards.<ref name="Ritzer, George 2004 p.175"/>

=== Glocalization ===
[[Glocalization]] is a combination of the words "[[globalization]]" and "[[localisation (economics)|localization]]" used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally, but is also fashioned to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market, causing the products, or results of glocalization, to vary depending on different locations. The term emphasizes global heterogeneity and rejects the notion that the norms and behaviors in West are leading to cultural homogeneity.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ritzer |first=George |date=2003 |title=Rethinking Globalization: Glocalization/Grobalization and Something/Nothing |journal=Sociological Theory |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=193–209 |doi=10.1111/1467-9558.00185 |s2cid=55837383 |issn=0735-2751}}</ref> The local individuals are able to manipulate their own situation in the world and become creative agents in what products and services are represented in their local environment within the glocalized world.<ref name=Globalization2 /> Ritzer further explains Glocalization as a relatively benign process that is closest to the "something" end of things. It creates variety and heterogeneity within society.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Douglas|title=Understanding society : a survey of modern social theory|year=2007|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Toronto|isbn=9780195421842|pages=399}}</ref> Ritzer has written about this term in his own works, demonstrating its connection to globalization and  "something vs. nothing".<ref name=":1" />

=== Metatheory ===
[[Metatheory]] can be defined as the attainment of a deeper understanding of theory, the creation of new theory, and the creation of an overarching theoretical perspective. There are three types of metatheorizing: M<sub>u</sub>, M<sub>p</sub>, and M<sub>o</sub>. Through the application of the three subsets of metatheory, Ritzer argues that the field of sociology can create a stronger foundation, experience "rapid and dramatic growth", and generally increase not only the knowledge of metatheory but social theory in general.<ref name= Metatheorizing>{{cite journal | title = Metatheorizing in Sociology | first = George | last = Ritzer | journal = [[Sociological Forum]] | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | year = 1990 | pages = 3–15 | jstor = 684578 | doi = 10.1007/BF01115134 | s2cid = 189919029 }}</ref>

The first category of metatheory (M<sub>u</sub>), aims at being a means of attaining a deeper understanding of theory. Within the greater category of M<sub>u</sub>, Ritzer establishes four other subsets: internal-intellectual, internal-social, external-intellectual, and external-social. The internal-intellectual sector of M<sub>u</sub> identifies the "schools of thought" and the structure of current sociologists and social theories. The internal-social subtype identifies connections between sociologists and connections between sociologists and society. The last two subsets of M<sub>u</sub> are looking more at the macrolevel of sociology than the other two subsets. The third subtype of M<sub>u</sub> is the external-intellectual view of sociology; it looks at different studies and their concepts, tools, and ideas in order to apply these aspects to sociology. The fourth, and final, subset is external-social where the impact of social theory in a larger societal setting is studied.<ref name= "Metatheorizing" />

The second (M<sub>p</sub>), aims at being a prelude to theory development. New social theory is created due to the complex study and interpretation of other sociologists. For example, [[Karl Marx]]'s theories are based on [[Hegel]]'s theories. The theories of the American sociologist, [[Talcott Parsons]], are based on the theories of [[Émile Durkheim]], [[Max Weber]], [[Vilfredo Pareto]], and [[Alfred Marshall]].<ref name= "Metatheorizing" />

The last (M<sub>o</sub>), aims at being a source of perspectives that overarch sociological theory.<ref name= "Metatheorizing" /> Influenced by [[Thomas Kuhn]]’s ''[[The Structure of Scientific Revolutions]]'' (1962), Ritzer has long advocated the view that social theory is improved by systematic, comparative and reflexive attention to implicit conceptual structures and oft-hidden assumptions.<ref name="Ritzer, G. Sociology 1974">Ritzer, G. ''Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science''. [[Allyn and Bacon]], Boston, 1974,</ref>

Key works include ''Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science'' (1975), ''Toward an Integrated Sociological Paradigm'' (1981), ''Metatheorizing in Sociology'' (1991), and ''Explorations in Social Theory: From Metatheorizing to Rationalization'' (2001). See also Ritzer’s edited ''Metatheorizing'' (1992).

=== Modern and postmodern social theory ===
Ritzer is known to generations of students as the author of numerous comprehensive introductions and compendia in social theory. [[Postmodern]] society is a consumer society that invents new means of consumption, such as [[credit cards]], [[shopping malls]], and [[shopping networks]]. Today, "Capitalism needs us to keep on spending at ever-increasing levels to be and remain capitalism."<ref>{{cite web|last=Ritzer|first=George|title=The New Means of Consumption: A Postmodern Analysis|url=http://www.public.iastate.edu/~s2005.soc.401/ritzer(apr29).pdf|access-date=4 October 2012|archive-date=4 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130504072609/http://www.public.iastate.edu/~s2005.soc.401/ritzer(apr29).pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  As with several of Ritzer's other principal works, many are translated into languages as diverse as Chinese, Russian, Persian, Hebrew and Portuguese.<ref name="socy.umd.edu"/> Key volumes in this genre include ''The Sociological Theory'' (7th edition 2008), ''Classical Sociological Theory'' (5th edition 2008), and ''Modern Sociological Theory'' (7th edition 2008), ''Encyclopedia of Social Theory'' (2 vols. 2005), and ''Postmodern Social Theory'' (1997). For convenient access to many of Ritzer's substantive contributions to modern and postmodern social theorizing, see ''Explorations in Social Theory: From Metatheorizing to Rationalization'' (2001) as well as more recent work often co-authored with his many students, such as (with J. Michael Ryan) "Postmodern Social Theory and Sociology: On Symbolic Exchange with a ‘Dead’ Theory," in ''Reconstructing Postmodernism: Critical Debates'' (2007).