A further feature of modern society is the domination of rational, secular and scientific ways of thinking correlating with a decline in the influence of magico-religious explanations of the world. Technically efficient forms of organisation, such as bureaucracies and factories, dominate social and economic life. Science becomes increasingly important in industry, medicine and communications. These massive scientific and technological advances all being funded my the organised capitalism of the nation-state within modern society. Modern society also places less importance on tradition, custom and ascribed status. Instead, we experience greater personal freedom and can increasingly choose our own course in life and define our own identity. However structural inequalities such as class remain important in shaping peoples identity and restricting their choice.
Many sociologists argue that we are now increasingly affected by globalisation – the increasing interconnectedness of people across national boundaries. We live in one interdependent 'global village' and our lives are shaped by a global framework. There are several changes in modern society that have brought about this change. Due to massive technological advances, an atmosphere of 'time-space compression' has occurred; continents can be crossed in a matter of hours, information can be exchanged across the globe the the click of a mouse and what would have been local news in the past has become global. But technology has also brought risks to society on a global scale. The push for greener, more efficient energy has lead to some nations taking on nuclear power programmes but this places the world at risk of a nuclear meltdown such as the one that occurred in Chernobyl. Ulrich Beck argues that we are now living in a risk society, where increasingly the threats to our well-being come from human made technology rather that natural disasters. Economic factors play a huge part in globalisation. Due to technological changes, the global economy is increasingly a 'weightless' or electronic economy. Instead of producing physical goods, much activity now involves the production of information such as music, TV programmes and data processing. Global 24-hour financial transactions permit the instantaneous transfer of funds around the world in pursuit of profit. This contributes to Beck's risk society; for example the world financial crisis in 2008 brought the economy of Iceland, which was heavily dependent on banking, to the brink of ruin.
Some sociologists claim that globalisation has undermined the power of the nation-state. For example Ohmae argues that we now live in a border less world in which trans-national corporations and consumers have more economic than national governments. States are now less able to regulate the activities of large capitalist enterprises, a situation Lash and Urry describe as 'disorganised capitalism'. Due to the role of information and communications technology, especially the mass media, it has become harder for cultures to exist in isolation from one another as globalisation increases. Instead of separate isolated cultures, we find ourselves living in a global culture in which western owned companies spread western culture to the rest of the world. In addition, the increased movement of people as tourists, economic migrants, refugees and asylum seekers helps to create globalised culture. Globalisation also undermines traditional sources of identity such as class. For example, the shift of manufacturing from the west to developing countries has led to the fragmentation and decline of working class communities that previously gave people their class identity.