Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association, an honorary doctorate from LaTrobe University in Australia, and the Robin Williams Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. His best-known work, The McDonaldization of Society (8th ed.), has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the editor of McDonaldization: The Reader; and author of other works of critical sociology related to the McDonaldization thesis, including Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Expressing America: A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, as well as a series best-selling social theory textbooks and Globalization: A Basic Text. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.; 2nd edition forthcoming), the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2016 he will publish the second edition of Essentials of Sociology with SAGE.

Writing to Be Read The Irrationality of Rationality Some Thoughts on the Future of McDonaldization The Process of McDonaldization Is Not Uniform Nor Are Its Settings, Consumers or the Consumption of Its Goods and Services Expressing America A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society Enchanting a Disenchanted World Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption Ensnared in the E-Net The Future Belongs to the Immaterial Means of Consumption The New Means of Consumption and the Situationist Perspective Thorstein Veblen in the Age of Hyperconsumerism Obscene from Any Angle Fast Food, Credit Cards, Casinos and Consumers

`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