DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- Is the era of globalization coming to an end?

Just a few years ago it looked like we were moving toward what Indian physicist and activist Vandana Shiva called a "monoculture of the mind ," dominated by Western values and lifestyles.

But business leaders are now worried that the idea of a single global market made up of like-minded consumers is starting to disintegrate as a result of widening inequalities and differing fundamental beliefs.

Experts say that rapid advances in technology are pulling the world in opposite directions and that the way that policy makers, businesses and civil society handle the extraordinary pace of change will determine the direction of human society.

On one side we are seeing that technology is creating greater transparency and stronger global networks. The recent unprecedented global agreement in Paris to seek to limit runaway climate change is also being hailed as an example of the ability of the world to act with one voice.

But on the other side of the equation, there are increasing numbers of people who feel disenfranchised and angry at the widening inequality between rich and poor, exemplified this week by Oxfams report that the richest 62 people are as wealthy as half the worlds population.