A number of occurrences have taken place in the past 13 years since the rise of the new millennium; we have seen and are seeing the rise of popular movements all over the world and a resistance to the forces of imperialism, capitalism and subjugation, from the most recent Arab Spring to the world's largest coordinated anti-war gathering in history with the global protests against the Iraq War[1], to the rise of the Occupy Movement and the surfacing of indigenous resistance as in the Idle No More campaign of Canada's First Nations population. While not all movements are pushing for the elimination of the state, or are even anarchistic in nature, they are rebelling against the current societal structures and creating an opportunity for radical change. What we are seeing around the world is a global resistance that, in some cases, has anarchist undercurrents. We are witnessing the new politics of the 21^st century.

While many movements such as the Occupy Movement and the Arab Spring included anarchist influences within them, anarchism as a political philosophy is still quite misunderstood, and some time should be taken to understand it.

Anarchism is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as "The theory that all forms of government are oppressive and should be abolished." [2] While it does advocate the abolition of the state, anarchism also includes "a heightened and radical critique and questioning of power and authority: if a source of authority cannot legitimize its existence, it should not exist." [3] This has led to anarchism being critiqued by a number of individuals and an increase in anarchist thought to the point where there are a large number of anarchist ideas being championed today, from anarcho-feminism to queer anarchism to black anarchism.

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