International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume VI, Issue XII, December 2022|ISSN 2454-6186
Homogenising the Heterogenous Gastronomy: A Case of McDonald’s in India
Dr Vishal Chauhan1, Dr Perveen2
1Department of History, PGDAV College, University of Delhi, India
2Department of Commerce, PGDAV College, University of Delhi, India
*Corresponding author
Abstract: – McDonald’s success in the global market is phenomenal, and India is no exception. The golden arches stretch across the globe despite invariably different gastronomical preferences. We are intrigued by the success of McDonald’s around the world, especially in India, which has a large vegetarian population. McDonald’s, famous for its meat products, is swiftly adopting the Indian-vegetarian ethos and has been successful in India too. This paper explores the ‘politics of taste’ by studying the cultural designs of McDonald’s and asks two pertinent questions: Does McDonald’s ‘homogenies’ the global gastronomies or adapting to a heterogenous global platter? How are commoners responding to the fast-food giant in India? The paper uses Arjun Appadurai’s and MD Certeau’s insights along with semi-structured-open-ended questionnaire, and non-participatory observation to study the cultural design of McDonald’s in India. Department of History, PGDAV College, University of Delhi.
Keywords: Homozinisation, heterogenization, micro-protest, cultural politics, and gastronomy.
I. INTRODUCTION
A young lady cried at a McDonald’s store (Birmingham, UK). She was with three kids. Other customers tried to calm her and asked the reason. She told them she did not have enough money to buy three ‘happy meals’, and they all shared in one. Then some of the customers suggested she go home and cook herself. But she replied, “I don’t know cooking” . Another story belongs to India, where in a mall, a mother was trying her level best to dissuade her daughter from eating something other than a burger, and she was yelling at the top of her voice Muje McVeggie hi khana na hai’ (I will eat McVeggie only).
There is no apparent connection between these two stories except the overarching ‘golden arches’ of McDonald’s. In the first story, a young lady suffers because she does not know cooking and depends on ‘Mc Happy Meal’. In the other story, a little girl insists her mother buy her a McVeggie burger. The first story narrates the plight of a developed society where ‘cooking’ is becoming old-fashioned, infra-normal and mundane. And the second story replicates the rapid intrusion of fast-food culture in a developing society. Globalization is shrinking the notion of ‘time and space’. This essay explores the connection between globalization and fast-food culture on the one hand, and their socio-cultural nuances, on the other.