ABSTRACT
Meaningful discussion about the relevance of anarchist ideas to modern industrialized societies must first, for the sake of clarity, outlines the difference between today's "neo-anarchism" and the classical anarchism of Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta and their successors. The increasing complexity of society is making anarchism more and not less relevant to modern life. The aim of anarchism is to stimulate forces that propel society in a libertarian direction. It is only from this standpoint that the relevance of anarchism to modern life can be properly assessed. While the anarchists never underestimated the great importance of the economic factor in social change, they have nevertheless rejected fanatical economic fatalism. One of the most cogent contributions of anarchism to social theory is the proper emphasis on how political institutions, in turn, mold economic life. Equally significant is the importance attached to the will of man, his aspirations, the moral factor, and all, the spirit of revolt in the shaping of human history.
