ABSTRACT
Two accepted cliches about contemporary societies are that they are experiencing unprecedented rates of change, and that they have been drawn together by trade and mass communications into a ‘global village’. Questions are naturally asked about the direction of the change, and whether the exchange of ideas is effecting a convergence in patterns of social behaviour and organisation. Do industrialism and its associated technologies impose a common logic of development on different societies? To what extent do industrial nations still bear the stamp of their own cultural and political values upon their modes of organisation? What are the likely consequences of current developments for the quality of our lives as citizens and employees?
