The Globalization of Nothing: Mengkonsumsi Kehampaan di Era Globalisasi

by George Ritzer

"The Globalization of Nothing is one of the most original analyses of forces operating in the world today. Ritzer presents a new thesisindeed a grand narrative-- on the dynamics of globalizaton. The production and distribution of "nothing" or social formations that are centrally conceived, controlled and comparatively devoid of distinctive content represents a new way to address many of the issues raised by postmodern theory (without all of the jargon and anti-science rhetoric) and world systems theory (without the hoped for collapse of capitalism). It is critical but not shrill. It forces the reader to look at the contemporary work in a new way. The book is highly readable and engaging. It has something to say to the scholar, student, and layperson."

--Jonathan Turner, University of California, Riverside

"The Globalization of Nothing is a brilliant essay that develops revolutionary ideas based on sharp, penetrating observations. This book is truly the product of a "sociological eye." I do no exaggerate when I use the term "revolutionary." The author presents a phenomenon--or set of phenomena--that stretch sociology's phenomenological field. . . . After you become aware of nothing, you need to rethink the world and the way you look at it."

--Heran Vera, University of Florida, Gainesville

"The book makes a clear, interesting, and compelling argument and it certainly contributes to our understanding of modern culture and society."

--Celestino Fernández, University of Arizona

"The author does an excellent job in describing and explaining nothing, something, grobalization, glocalization, globalization, and their interrelations. Examples are drawn closely from life. They are touchable and powerfully illustrative. The discussion flows well and the text is highly readable."

--Victor N. Shaw, California State University Northridge

"The book will make a valuable contribution to literature. . . . This book continues the trajectory of McDonalization by providing a more sophisticated analytical frame to interpret globalization."

--Douglas H. Constance, Sam Houston State University

"The books strength is that it takes a look at the big picture and is not timid in developing a case for the nothing/something continuum and the increasing globalization of nothing. We have an insufficient number of books in sociology that take on big agendas."

--Steve Zehr, University of Southern Indiana

In a world increasingly festooned with familiar logos from the hallmark swoosh on a designer tennis shoe to an amusement parks infamous mouse ears it is clear that these symbols are not merely decorative, but represent important changes in our social milieu. The proliferation of credit card offers, automated banking services, and globally recognizable brand names illustrate significant changes in the realm of social a trajectory toward a world of increasingly dehumanized services and empty places and things.

George Ritzer theorizes in his provocative new book, The Globalization of Nothing, that the "grand narrative" or social story of this period is a movement from "something" to "nothing." Building on but going beyond his renowned McDonaldization thesis, Ritzer contends that societies around the globe continue to move away from "something," defined as a social form that is generally indigenously conceived, locally controlled, and rich in distinctive content. He argues that we are moving toward "nothing" that which is centrally controlled and conceived and relatively devoid of distinctive substance. It is in the movement toward the globalization of "nothing" that "something" is lost. More than likely, that "something" is an indigenous custom, a local store, a familiar gathering place, or simply personalized interaction. Thus, the central problem in the world today is defined as "loss amidst monumental abundance (of nothing)."

The Globalization of Nothing takes the subject of globalization in new directions, introducing terms such as "grobalization" (the growing influence of, for example, American corporations throughout the world). The key conflict in the world today is viewed as that between the grobalization of nothing and the glocalization of something. This book is structured around four sets of concepts addressing this "places/non-places," "things/non-things," "people/non-people," and "services/non-services." By drawing upon salient examples from everyday life, George Ritzer invites the reader to examine the nuances of these concepts in conjunction with the paradoxes within the process of the globalization of nothing. Why is it that those who produce "nothing" for major multinational corporations often cannot afford that which they produce? Why ...

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Social Science, Philosophy, School

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

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

[Andrei Ștefănucă · Rating 2 out of 5]

A perspective on current globalization dynamics that tries to take into account any and all factors on a scale from local to global. In Ritzer's view, society appears to explode and and at the same time implode under the influence of opposite feedback cycles that mold everything from local, authentic, cultural something to insipid, mono-sexual, global nothing. Nevertheless the book is only a general sketch, the painting needs more detail. And balance.

[columbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, some great (fast??) food for thought. Never mind that this book is short, digestible, and indistinguishable from the other copies of this book that exist in the world—aren’t all books “nothing,” in a way, or is it more about the content? But then why isn’t a Whopper something, despite its mass production—some would argue the food is pretty distinctive from other foods and the way in which it is consumed may be entirely unique…

I get what point he’s trying to make though. His definition of “nothing” is less compelling that his grobalization vs glocalization analysis. What I think is especially important is that mass production (and capitalism in its by-definition pursuit of continued growth and consumption) removes the consumer from the producer to the point that most of us are pretty okay with purchasing things that were made by sweatshop workers and children. Consumption on a local scale allows for the possibility of personal connection between buyer and creator (even if that connection doesn’t actually happen), as opposed to the highly impersonal non-relationship across buyer-distributor-producer-capitalist mastermind (Jeff Bezos). If this was worth exploring 20 years ago, I can’t even think of the amount of work that needs to be done on this now.

but this guy used way too many sentence modifiers :/ “in fact,” “however,” “furthermore” shut up

[Nati Vozian · Rating 5 out of 5]

un subiect ce preocupa deopotriva sociologii si economistii. despre cosumerismul excesiv, catedralele comerciale si dilema to go global or to stay local.

[Steven Pearce]

Very good sociology book.