The McDonaldization of the fight against organized drug crime in the Netherlands

• In Event: Reflecting on the Dutch integrated approach to contain and prevent organized and organizational crime

Abstract

In 1993, the American sociologist George Ritzer published The McDonaldization of Society in which he showed that many processes within our society are increasingly governed by predictability, calculability, efficiency and control. Ritzer added that a paradoxical situation can arise in which the drive for rational efficiency leads to all kinds of irrational consequences. The increased role of rational efficiency is also reflected in the Dutch approach to serious organized drug crime. In order to tackle this problem more efficiently and effectively, there is a strong focus on 'integral cooperation' between stakeholders. According to this model, aspects such as repression (criminal law approach), the disruption of criminal processes by erecting barriers (logistics chain) and increasing resilience (social and administrative) should interlock and reinforce each other. A central notion to integrated cooperation in tackling serious organized drug crime is that agencies and stakeholders must work together as ‘one smart government’ (RIEC-LIEC, 2021). However, results of a recent study into the Dutch approach to serious organized drug crimes show that operating as one government in the fight against subversive drug crime proves to be a major challenge (Nelen, Van Wingerde, Bisschop, Moerland, 2023). This contribution will further reflect on this issue on the basis of Ritzer's insights. Particular attention is paid to the four elements that are central to Ritzer's work, namely predictability, calculability, efficiency and control, in order to gain a better insight into the reasons why an efficient and effective integrated approach to subversive drug crime is apparently difficult.

Author

• Roland Moerland, Maastricht University