Description

The only book to connect the everyday world of the 20-something undergraduate consumer with sound sociological analysis of the world of consumption

Enchanting a Disenchanted World, Third Edition examines Disney, malls, cruise lines, Las Vegas, the world wide web, Planet Hollywood, credit cards, and all the other ways we now consume. Thoroughly updated to reflect the recent economic recession and the impact of the internet, bestselling author George Ritzer continues to explore this book's central thesis: that our society has undergone fundamental change because of the way and the level at which we consume.

This Third Edition demonstrates how we have created new "cathedrals" of consumption (places that enchant us so as to entice us to stay longer and consume more) while continuing to take capitalism to a new level. These places of consumption, whether in our homes, the mall, or cyberspace, are in a constant state of "enchanting the disenchanted," luring us through new spectacles because their rational qualities are both necessary and deadening at the same time.

New and Hallmark Features

• Offers a unique analysis of the world of consumption, especially the settings in which consumption takes place
• Chapter

  Cover

  Brief Contents

  Detailed Contents

  Preface

  Chapter 1 - A Tour of the New Means of Consumption

  Chapter 2 - The Revolution in Consumption and the Larger Society

  Chapter 3 - Social Theory and the New Means of Consumption

  Chapter 4 - Rationalization, Enchantment, and Disenchantment

  Chapter 5 - Reenchantment: Creating Spectacle Through Extravaganzas and Simulations

  Chapter 6 - Reenchantment: Creating Spectacle Through Implosion, Time, and Space

  Chapter 7 - Landscapes of Consumption

  Chapter 8 - The Cathedrals (and Landscapes) of Consumption: Continuity and Change

  Notes

  Index

  About the Author