Question

Explain what Ritzer is trying to convey when he writes “Faced with Max Weber’s iron cage and the image of a future dominated by the polar night of icy darkness and hardness, I hope that, if nothing else, you will consider the words of the poet Dylan Thomas: “Do not go gentle into that good night…. Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. ”?

Answer 1

To understand the depth of what Ritzer is saying, it is important to understand the concept of Iron cage, as proposed by Max Weber in his paper ,'The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism'. The modern society , according to Weber is obsessed with efficiency i.e. obtaining the maximum result with minimum pleasure and to the center of this is the ethics of the Protestants.Weber believed that it was due to the Protestants work ethic that shaped and fostered the capitalist economic system. Even if the force of Protestantism decreased as the history progressed; the system of capitalism remained .This principle of capitalistic created social values , norms and beliefs that shaped the social and cultural life(forming an Iron Cage, which constrained and restrained our thoughts and behaviour). This Iron Cage of Rationality is a dehumanizing process , which Ritzer further elaborated on.

Ritzer’s concept of McDonaldization( The McDonaldization of Society,1993) , is the modern day version of Weber’s concept of rationalization. The essence of Ritzer's concept of McDonaldization explains how rationalization in the society is nothing but substitution of logics. He views corporations as a potential threat to human creativity . In short, bureaucracies is diagnosed with irrationality of rationality.This is what Weber is referring to as darkness (metaphorically), which needs to be resisted. We cannot give into the exploitation of human labour and ethics. The traditional values is being replaced by illogical rationalities which is turning our society into an iron cage, thereby dehumanising and creating a level of choas and uniformity. This needs to be fought , resist and overcome, for maintaing the sanity and ethics of humanity. Thus, rage , rage and rage till the dying of the light.