Handbook of Social Theory

George Ritzer is Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he has also been a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and won a Teaching Excellence Award. He was awarded the 2000 Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award by the American Sociological Association and an honorary doctorate from LaTrobe University in Australia. His best-known work, The McDonaldization of Society, has been read by hundreds of thousands of students over two decades and translated into over a dozen languages. Ritzer is also the author of a series best-selling social theory textbooks for McGraw-Hill; McDonaldization: The Reader; and other works of critical sociology related to the McDonalization thesis, including A Critique of the Global Credit Card Society, Enchanting a Disenchanted World, The Globalization of Nothing, Globalization: A Basic Text, and The Outsourcing of Everything. He is the Editor of the Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2 vols.), the Encyclopedia of Sociology (11 vols.), and the Encyclopedia of Globalization (5 vols.), and is Founding Editor of the Journal of Consumer Culture. In 2012 he published the first edition of his new Introduction to Sociology with SAGE. Barry Smart is Professor of sociology at the University of Portsmouth and a member of the Centre for European and International Studies Research (CEISR). His research interests include: critical social theory; the globalization of consumer culture and the transformation of economic life; and the cultural economy of modern sport. His most recent books are Economy, Culture & Society (OUP, 2003), The Sport Star (SAGE, 2005) and Consumer Society (SAGE, 2010)