The Ritzerization of knowledge

Abstract

Purpose

Explores the use of strategies adopted by authors and publishers to enhance the success potential of their books.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the literature on the production of best selling business books, strategies and techniques increasingly being deployed in the production of social science texts are considered. These strategies are collectively referred to as the “Ritzerization of knowledge”. The Disneyization of Society, by Alan Bryman, is explored as an example of this Ritzerization strategy.

Findings

It is argued that while such techniques aid in the production of easy reading, or “knowledge‐lite”, the dictates of the market may threaten the survival of more demanding texts and, worryingly, the capacity for a scholarly depth of understanding or the development of a substantial knowledge base.

Originality/value

Examines the “Ritzerization of knowledge” in both a social and a marketing context.

Citation

Roberts, J. (2005), "The Ritzerization of knowledge", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 56-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/17422040510577906