Summary People, Place and Culture: Including lecture notes, summaries of articles, key takeaways, notes for the exam.
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Course
People, Place and Culture (GEPPLCUL)
Institution
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RuG)
This PDF includes:
- Lecture notes . My notes are not just powerpoint notes, but instead full lecture notes including extra information.
- Additional information and graphs used during the lecture.
-Summary of the literature: Articles.
-In some cases a Dutch translation of concepts.
Writ...
Rationalization process= a historical process and rationality as the end result of that development.
Rooted in the western world. Example: Fast food restaurants, industrial robots etc.
Connected with bureaucracy.
Seen as the McDonaldization of Society= the fast food restaurant is the current exemplar for future
developments in rationalization. 5 dimensions:
1. Efficiency.
2. Predictability.
3. Calculability.
4. Substitution of non-human for human technology.
5. Control uncertainty.
Critics:
- By product: The irrationality of rationality: We are not aware of the irrational consequences
that flow from rational systems and only focused on advantages and promises→ alienation,
environmental degradations and loss of diversity.
- No way of return to a less rationalized way of life.
- We cannot ignore the advantages due to rationality: Convenience and cost-effectiveness.
- We should not romanticize the “noble” life before the rational society. It has problems and
disadvantages too.
- McDonaldization leads to the dehumanization of social life →Reduces creativity, individuality
and critical thinking as people are pushed to conform to standardized procedures and
outcomes.
Solution: We should gain a better understanding of the process of rationalization so that we can
come to exercise more and better control of it.
→Not a phenomenon limited to the fast food industry, but also shaping moder life.
Profit as powerful motive for rationalization? Not always an explanation and also does not explain the
widespread expansion. Example: Schools, churches etc.
,5 dimensions:
#1 Efficiency:
= The focus on the most efficient way to achieve a desired result: Time & cost efficiency.
- McDonald's: This means a quick, streamlined process for food preparation and service.
- Ritzer: Efficiency is spreading to other areas, such as education, healthcare, and even
personal relationships, often at the expense of quality or individuality.
Mass production→ Maximum monetary efficiency.
Mass consumption→ Maximum time efficiency. Example: ‘Thuisbezorgd’.
Side-effect: Supply side efficiency due to presumption.
#2 Predictability:
= Manage people’s expectations and avoid big surprises. The idea that products and services will be
uniform, offering a consistent experience.
- McDonald’s, where a Big Mac tastes the same no matter where you are in the world.
- Ritzer: Predictability is being applied to many other areas of life, such as travel, where chain
hotels or fast food restaurants offer familiar, standardized experiences.
Also: Follow influencers→ People are sensitive for trends and we like to generalize.
#3 Calculabilty:
= The emphasis on quantifiable objectives. Demand-side: What do we get?
Supply-side: What do we need?
- McDonald's: Measures success by the number of burgers sold, not the quality of the product.
- In society, this often translates to a focus on quantity over quality.
- Rol of big data→ Predict→Calculate.
Also: Spreadsheet-fetishism:
- Targets, dashboards, protocols, monitoring numbers, data-managing.
- Market rationale and government rationale = new public management.
Example: Home care protocol→ number of minutes to finish certain tasks. Inhuman?
Example: Prioritizing the number of students graduated rather than their actual learning outcomes.
#4 Use of non-human technology:
= Technology over people (people continue to act in unforeseen ways/make mistakes).
- Marx: Instruments of labor over the subject of labor.
- The use of technology and standardized procedures to manage people’s behaviour.
- McDonald's: The control of workers and customers, such as the use of automated machines
or scripted interactions.
- Ritzer: To broader societal trends where work environments become increasingly mechanized
and customer service is often dictated by automated systems or strict protocols.
Example: Robotics for elderly healthcare.
Result: There is a change in how we act or see our culture.
#5 Control:
= Managing uncertainties as much as possible→ Humans are uncertainty!
- By non-human technology.
- By direct accountability “You were served by….”. = sign of individualism and were the power
is. There is no risk for employees in NL, but in the VS there’re lot of risks.
, Bauman (1998):
→ He critiques the dominant narratives around globalization, emphasizing how its effects are
unevenly distributed across different social groups and regions and produces divergent outcomes.
Important concepts:
1. Globalization's Paradox: Globalisation and its Unequal Impact.
Often mentioned as a process that brings the world closer together, homogenizing cultures and
economies.
However→ more complex: While some parts of the world are deeply integrated into the global
system, others remain marginalized or even excluded.
Result: Not a single global culture, but rather global network where some people and places are
increasingly interconnected while others are left behind.
→Globalization for some (those who have access to global networks) VS localization for others (those
who are more isolated or excluded form global forces).
2. Glocalization:
= how global forces interact with local contexts/realities.
According to Bauman: globalization is not just about a one-way flow of culture, commerce, and values
from the West to the rest of the world. Instead, it leads to a hybridization of global and local
elements. Global influences are adapted, resisted, or reshaped to fit specific local needs, identities,
and circumstances.
Result: Global forces and local traditions coexist and mutually influence each other. But: In ways that
are not equally experienced across the world.
3. Unequal Access to Global Networks:
According to Bauman: globalization is unequally experienced but experienced to all of us!
- For those with the resources (wealth, education, and access to technology), globalization
offers opportunities for mobility, consumption, and cultural exchange.
- For those without these resources, globalization often reinforces existing inequalities, leaving
them isolated or at the mercy of global market forces.
4. The Role of the State:
→Traditional forms of political and social control, like the nation-state and neo-liberalism, are being
challenged by globalization. According to Bauman: The state still plays a crucial role in managing the
local consequences of global forces:
- To control or regulate the flows of goods, information and capital in the globalized world.
- Managing the tension between global forces and local interests: How local identities can cope
with the pressure of globalisation.
- How can the state uses the local identity and culture against the negative impacts of
globalization.
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