Is Classical Sociology Still Relevant Today Essay

Choose any one concept or argument developed within classical sociology. Critically evaluate the use made of this concept or argument by contemporary sociology in trying to understand a current social issue This essay looks at the argument taken from a classical sociologist called Weber, throughout this essay it explains rationalization and how it has become modernized using Ritzer to explain this by demonstrating his McDonaldization theory. The theory will be clarified by contemporary sociologists by looking at their strengths and weaknesses and how rationalization relates to a current social issue such as globalisation becoming such a problem in today’s society due to a wide population of fast food restaurants causing obesity to rise†¦show more content†¦Max Weber used the bureaucracy to represent how the society changes over time whereas Ritzer sees fast food restaurants as a better way to describe how societies change and become more of a contemporary thought pattern. Ritzer understands McDonaldization as a process in which it is slowly taking over the world, he says it can be summarised by just one small quote â€Å"the principle of fast food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of the American society as well as the rest of the world† (Ritzer 2008). He states that the past, present and future of McDonalization has appeared from the iron cage to fast food restaurants which shows that rationalisation is still developing, the iron cage is a way to describe it in the past and McDonaldization helps to describe it in today’s society, rationalisation will continue to progress until other contemporary sociologist find different ways to define it. Although McDonaldization offers many advantages as it gives customers quick food at low prices it also has disadvantages just like the bureaucracy they both suffer from irrationality, like fast food restaurants a bureaucracy can be a ‘dehumanising’ place to work and be served by. Many things are developed by technical devises rather than the human hand (Wynyard 1998) McDonaldization is viewed to be one of the reasons behind obesity. This is due to peopleShow MoreRelatedMarxism, Feminism And The Works Of Max Weber1584 Words   |  7 Pagesterms of the stratification of society and the lack of access of workers to the means of production today. We still currently live in a capitalist society but debate continues about whether or not Marx’s ideology is relevant to contemporary society. 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