The Velvet Cage of Educational Con(Pro)Sumption

• Published in: Open review of educational research Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 113 - 129
• Main Authors: Ritzer, George, Jandric, Petar, Hayes, Sarah
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2018
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; College Students; Consumer Economics; Educational Technology; Global Approach; Higher Education; Information Technology; Instruction; Internet; Monetary Systems; Social Change; Social Systems; Technology Uses in Education
• ISSN: 2326-5507; 2326-5507
• DOI: 10.1080/23265507.2018.1546124

In the year that George Ritzer publishes the ninth edition of "The McDonaldization of Society," moving his famous theory firmly "Into the Digital Age," critical educator Petar Jandric and sociologist Sarah Hayes invited George to a dialogue on the digital transformation of McDonaldization and its critical application to Higher Education. In this article, George first traces for us the origins of his theory that has endured for four decades. A key dimension of McDonaldization is the 'iron cage' of control, via rationalization. Once contained within physical sites of bricks and mortar, now, we encounter a 'velvet cage' in sites of digital consumption, at the hands of non-human technologies, that threaten human labor and autonomy. Whilst the concept of the McUniversity is not without some critique, this interview provides compelling reasons to open new dialogue about McDonaldization in augmented settings such as Higher Education. With the rise of prosuming machines such as blockchain and bitcoin, that can both produce and consume without intervention from human 'prosumers', universities cannot afford to ignore the challenges of prosumer capitalism, which George concludes, will explode into unprecedented and unpredictable directions in the years to come.