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Introduction

Town after town, coastal area after coastal area, spaces in Taiwan continue to be repurposed for the country’s economy, resulting in further environmental destruction. When local communities, environmental activists, and concerned citizens stand up to save the land, air, water, etc., one of the greatest obstacles they invariably face are the mantras repeated by the state—"development,” “economic growth,” and “competitiveness.” Decades of “balancing” environmental protection with economic development this way has made continued habitability of Taiwan and the planet a false hope. The phenomenon of ecology giving way to economy is not unique to Taiwan but universal. As a response, the literature and movement of “degrowth,” which calls for the abandonment of blind economic growth as a goal for policy design in rich countries, have continued to spread in the past two decades. Yet is degrowth, a movement that takes time to reach out and make an impact, too idealistic and thus unfeasible for a crisis-stricken moment like this? How can its advocacy of “slowing down” appeal to a society deeply trapped in a competitive mode that is seemingly patriotic and thus irreconcilable? As one of the world’s most respected public intellectual, Noam Chomsky has long warned against the environmental consequences of concentrated wealth and power in the hands of corporate elites. Along this line, his anarchist thoughts may provide key insights for solving the degrowth conundrum.

Keywords: degrowth, Noam Chomsky, anarchism, green economy, climate change