Lyon describes this multilayered notion that encompasses a variety of major social and cultural changes taking place at the end of the twentieth century. Among the key processes he examines:
-- rapid technological change
-- shifting political concerns
-- the rise of social movements
-- globalization

Lyon discusses modernity as a social-cultural entity and questions whether it and the monolithic edifice of Enlightenment rationality and progress are disintegrating. He concludes that a new sort of society is emerging, one structured around consumers and consumption rather than workers and production. This second edition delves more deeply into issues such as globalization and the new postmodern quest for ethics.