Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Continuity and Change in the Cathedrals of Consumption

by George Ritzer

"I like the fact that the book is relatively even-handed - appreciating spectacle even while forcing students to question critically the effects of consumption in their lives and those of their fellow citizens."

-Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University

"Enchanting a Disenchanted World is a tour de force. Drawing upon a rich array of examples, George Ritzer provides an original and insightful analysis of the new means of consumption and how they are transforming our lives. . . . Analytically crisp, jargon free, and packed with fresh illustrations, Enchanting a Disenchanted World is equally effective as an engaging read for specialists and a lucid text for classroom use. Highly recommended to scholars and students."

-Kevin Fox Gotham, Tulane University

"I think this is a great book! I have enjoyed working with it, and so have my students. . . . I especially like the chapters that deal with social theory. These chapters are very effective in presenting social theory to students, as they contain very clear and straightforward explanations of the ideas of otherwise very complex and difficult social theorists."

-Ann Branaman, Florida Atlantic University


Megamalls. Restaurant chains. Elaborate casinos. Deluxe cruise ships. Enormous theme parks. Everywhere we turn, there is a new place being constructed in which to spend money. The Second Edition of Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolutionizing the Means of Consumption examines the development of these settings, and many others like them, in the last half century.

Author George Ritzer takes a look at how a revolutionary change has occurred in the places in which we consume goods and services, and how it has a profound effect not only on the nature of consumption but also on social life. In the process of taking capitalism to a new level, we have created new "cathedrals of consumption"-locales to which we make pilgrimages in order to practice our consumer religion. The book offers rich detail on consuming in places such as Las Vegas, Disney World, cruise ships, Wal-Mart, and McDonald’s-all competing to outdo one another to see which one can put on the greatest show and lure the most consumers.

Enchanting a Disenchanted World is a unique analysis of the world of consumption, examining how we are different consumers now than we were in the past, both in the U.S. and around the world. In the process of understanding this social development, a wide range of theoretical perspectives including Marxian, Weberian, critical theory, and postmodern theory are applied. The book also looks at concepts such as hyperconsumption, implosion, time and space, and simulation.

New to the Second Edition:

A new Chapter 7 has been added discussing "landscapes of consumption," or locales that encompass two or more cathedrals of consumption, giving a broader geographic context to examine the changes in consumption settings, their impact on the lure of consumption, and the pressure to consume.

A new section has been added to Chapter 3, devoted to the historical importance of the early Parisian arcades and to the thinking of the important social theorist, Walter Benjamin, on these sites.

The book has been thoroughly revised and updated and discusses the new big players among the cathedrals of consumption, including Disney’s upcoming theme park in Hong Kong, the new Queen Mary II, the soon-to-be completed casino resort Wynn Las Vegas, and many more.

Enchanting a Disenchanted World connects the everyday world in a sociological and theoretical way, making it an ideal text for a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses including introductory sociology, sociology of consumption , social change, popular culture, sociology of leisure, social theory, and economic sociology. The book will also be of value to anyone interested in exploring a sociological analysis of the world’s changing and expanding patterns and places of consumption.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. He has named at Distinguished-Scholar Teacher at Maryland and received the American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award. Among his academic awards are an Honorary Doctorate from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia; Honorary Patron, University Philosophical Society, Trinity College, Dublin; and the 2012-2013 Robin William Lectureship from the Eastern Sociological Society. He has chaired four Sections of the American Sociological Association- Theoretical Sociology, Organizations and Occupations, first Chair of Global and Transnational Sociology, and the History of Sociology.
His books have been translated into over twenty languages, with over a dozen translations of The McDonaldization of Society alone.

Reviews

[Galibkaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu kitap için buraya gelecek arkadaşlara bir hatırlatma ve öneride bulunayım: Netflix'te de yayımlanan Bathtubs Over Broadway adlı belgeseli de mutlaka izlesinler. İşletmelerde çalışanları "büyülemek" üzerine muazzam -ve unutulmuş- bir sektörden bahsediyor belgesel.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6029778/...

[Şebnem Cansun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kitabı Ayrıntı Yayınlarından okudum (2019 basımı) ve sistemde belirtildiği gibi 270 değil, 336 sayfa. Ritzer, tüketim sarmalı üzerine haklı noktalara dikkat çekiyor. Başta sosyologlar olmak üzere, pek çok sosyal bilimciye atıfta bulunması, çalışmanın bana kalırsa en güzel kısmı. Okuyucu böylelikle diğer araştırmacıların en öne çıkan fikirlerine de erişmiş oluyor. Çalışma biraz daha kısa olabilirdi, diye düşündüm. Ama bu düşünce benim, yalnızca bu kitap için değil, son zamanlarda okuduğum akademik kitaplara dair genel düşüncem. Okumaya değer.

[Katie Aromi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a graduate level Sociology class. It was interesting, for the most part, but repetitive. Consumerism impacts or social institutions and economy in a multitude of ways and this book delves into this topic.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Ritzer's ideas, I'm just tired of him capitalizing on writing the same idea in a different form 1,000 times. This is very similar to McDonaldization and other works by Ritzer. Good intro to Ritzer, though.

[Hakan Fıçıcı · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu tarz bir tez ortaya koyan kitapları yazıldıkları tarihte okumak değerli. Yazar ne bilsin dünyayı etkileyen bir pandeminin geleceğini, internetin bu kadar hızlı ve cep telefonlarına kadar yayılacağını. Haliyle tez bazı noktalarda arkaik kalıyor.

[Maide Karzaoğlu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hiç beğenmedim. Tüketim kültürü üzerine muhtemelen 50 sayfada özetlenecek bilgiyi, Amerika odaklı tüm dünya evreni üzerinde bu kadar gereksiz ayrıntılarla uzatmanın anlamını çözemedim. 1 puan vermemin tek sebebi kitabın ismini çok sevmiş olmam.

[Maxim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Page by page it makes you bored more and more while hoping to find some kind of critical thinking. It felt like you read a catalog which was one of the main issues in the "book" to criticize as meaningless stuff in today's postmodern world and so on.

[Deniz Yıldız · Rating 4 out of 5]

tüketimi fast food ile bağdaştırarark anlatması biraz baydı onun haricinde okunur

[zia · Rating 1 out of 5]

pierdolenie w kolko o 3 rzeczach tylko innymi slowami

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite social theorists thank you George Ritzer

[Marek Pawlowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kiedy za czasów studiów przeczytałem „Makdonaldyzację społeczeństwa” Riztera, zrobiła ona na mnie duże wrażenie. Dzięki niemu przekonałem się do analizy socjologicznej zjawisk społecznych nie na tyle, aby uznać ich prawdziwość, ile by nie traktować czasu na ich czytanie jako kompletnie zmarnowanego. Podobne odczucia mam w przypadku „Świata konsumpcji”. Jest to oczywiście rozwinięcie poglądów Ritzera z „Makdonaldyzacji”, tym razem jednakże czerpie dużo pomysłów z Baudrillarda. Jest to pozycja, której nie warto analizować analitycznie (podchodzić do niej na sposób filozofii analitycznej), raczej powinno się ją czytać jako pewną opowieść, wizję świata konkretnej osoby, jak postrzega ona naszą rzeczywistość. Coraz mniej zgadzam się z pomysłami Ritzera, choć pomysł z racjonalizacją i umagicznieniem wydaje się całkiem interesujący. W każdym razie warto przeczytać tę książkę, chociażby dlatego, że znajduje się w niej wiele pobocznych, ciekawych informacji na temat rynku komercyjnego w Stanach Zjednoczonych.

I read Ritzer’s “McDonaldization” for the first time when I was studying and it made a huge impression on me. Because of him I started to like sociological analysis of social phenomena. I’m not saying that I treat them like some real and true concepts, I’m just saying that the time spent on analysing them was not wasted. Similar feelings I have for “Enchanting a Disenchanted World”, it’s a continuation of his view from “McDonaldization….”. But this time, I think, he used mostly Baudrillard’s views for analysis. Of course this is a book that you shouldn’t analyse in the analytic way (in the sense of analytic philosophy), it rather should be read like a good story of someone who sees the word from his own specific perspective. Less and less I am agreeing with Ritzer but his main concept about enchanting and disenchanting is quiet interesting. Either way I think this book is worth reading, at least for that there is a lot of interesting information about the American commercial market

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a sociology class. I found the book to be illuminating on topics that I had not really considered in the realm of consumption. He uses the principles of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Jean Baudrillard as guidance in understanding our culture of consumption.

[Juho Salo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Answered so many questions I've held since childhood. And really well written, to boot!