Fries with that degree? Understanding the McDonaldization of higher education

After four decades, Ritzer's metaphor of ‘McDonaldization’ remains a popular way of understanding the stifling bureaucratization and consequent dearth of creativity and critical thought in universities across the globe. But if Ritzer's original characterization of the dehumanizing, factory-like, computer-controlled university was a sufficient and convincing explanation higher education would have taken note and changed. The metaphor would then be redundant. What keeps the McDonaldization metaphor going is an ingredient Ritzer neglected – the therapeutic turn in higher education. The therapeutic turn may seem new and separate from McDonaldization, but it is a powerful complementary force without which students would not be ‘lovin it’ at university

Bureaucracy · Creativity · Criticism · Higher education · Literal and figurative language · Metaphor · Contemporary Cultural and Social Studies · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · University Challenges and Reforms

• Beyond McDonaldization

  Dennis Hayes•Beyond Mcdonaldization•2017

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