automation-and-labor

Chapter 3 of 'The McDonaldization of Society: Into the Digital Age' compiles extensive references illustrating the expansion and intensification of McDonaldization principles—efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control—across various sectors including digital platforms, food industry innovations, retail, education, and healthcare. It highlights the rise of platform companies, the role of prosumers in digital capitalism, automation's impact on labor, and the pervasive standardization and rationalization shaping contemporary consumer and institutional practices. The chapter also addresses the implications of big data and self-service technologies in further rationalizing and controlling consumption and production processes.