Max-Neef Human Scale Development

HUMAN SCALE DEVELOPMENTCONCEPTION, APPLICATION AND FURTHER REFLECTI ONS

Manfred A. Max-NeefWith contributi ons fromAntoni o E l i z a l d e Martin Hopenhayn Foreword by Sven HamrellDag Hammarskjld Foundation

The Apex Press New York and London

Published in 19 91 by The Apex Press, an imprint of the Cou ncil on Intern ationa l an d Public Af f airs, 777 Unit ed Nations Plaza, New York, New York, USA (212/953-6 920) and 57 Ca ledo nia n Roa d, Lon don, N1 9 BU, U. K. (01-837-4 014) Part On e of this boo k w as published under th e title, D esarollo a Escala Humana: una opcin para el futuro, by the Dag Ha mmarskyld Foun dation, Up psala, Sw eden.Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Max-Neef, Manfred A. Human scale devel opment: concepti on, appli cation and further reflecti ons / by Manfred Max-Necf, wi th contributions from Antonio Eli zalde, Martin Hopenhayn ; foreword by Sven Hamrel l. p. cm. "Part One of thi s book was publi shed in Spani sh as a special i ssue of Development Di alogue i n 1986 under the title, Desarrol lo a escala humana: una opcin para el futuro"P. xi i.ISBN 0-945257-35-X

CONTENTSForew ord by Sven Ha mr ell, Dag Ha mmarskj ld Foun dat ion vii Pref ace xi About the Co ntrib utors xiv

PA RT ONE: HUMA N SCAL E DEV ELOPMENT 1. Re-reading the Lat in American Situat ion: Crisis and Perplexity, Manfred M ax-Neef, Antonio Elizalde and Martin Hopenhayn A Crisis of Proposals and a Crisis of Utopias Limitat ions to Our Develo p ment Objectives of Hu man Sca le Develop men t 2. Develop ment and Hu man Needs, Manfred Max-Neef, Antonio Elizalde and Martin Hopenhayn Ref lections on a New Perspective Argumentatio n Foundat ions f or a Possible Systemat ization A Note on Meth odology Options That Deter mine Develop me nt Styles 3. Develop ment and Self -reliance, Manfred Max-Neef, Antonio Elizalde and Martin Hopenhayn Tow ard a Self -reliant Develop ment On the Invisib le World On Micro-organizations On Resources

1 1

1. Lati n Ameri caEconomi c pol i cy. 2. Economi c development. I. Eli zalde, Antonio. II. Hopenhayn, Marti n. III. Ti tl e. HC125.M347 1991 338.98dc20 91-12713 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Max-Neef, Manfred A. Human scale devel opment : concepti on, appli cation and further reflecti ons. I. T itle 745.2 ISBN 0-945257-35-X

4 8 13 13 23 29 39 47

Typeset and printed in the Un ited St ates of America

55 55 65 71 76

Recapitu lation

85

4. The Unresolved Proble m of Micro-macro Articulation, Manfred Max-Neef 87 Seeking So lutio ns 87 The Prob le m of Aggregation 88 Articulation and Sense of Direction of the System 91 PA RT TWO: FIRST STEPS INTO FURTHER REFL ECTIONS 5. About the Pruning of Language (and Other Unusual Exercises) f or the Understanding of Social Improve ment, M anfred Max-Neef The Prob le m Man if estations of the Proble m Searching f or Answ ers Conclusion 6. A Stupid Way of Lif e, Manfred Max-Neef Insight Crisis On Constraints of Language So me So lutio ns? Future Scenarios

FOREWORDT he Dag Hammarskj l d Foundation has si nce the publ i cati on of the 1975 Dag Hammarskj l d Report, What Now : Another Develop- ment, concentrated heavil y on the sectori al aspects of the alternati ve development strategies advocated in thi s semi nal document. A l ong seri es of semi nars has been organi zed under the Foundati on's auspi ce or i n cooperation wi th li ke-minded organizations to test the applicability of the i deas of Another Devel opmentneed-oriented, sel f-reli ant, en- dogenous,ecol ogi call y sound and based on structural transformationsi n areas such as rural devel opment, heal th, educati on, sci ence and technol ogy (especi all y pl ant geneti c resources and bi otechnology), i nternati onal monetary poli cy, i nformation and communi cati on, and parti ci pati on. An i nteresti ng and unusual example of thi s i s the Latin Ameri can project on Human Scal e Devel opment, the obj ecti ve of whi ch was lay a foundati on for future acti on programs by anal yzing the concepts of human needs, scal e and effi ciency and by focusing on unempl oyment and l ocal development financi ng, that i s, concepts and probl ems that had not been penetrated in depth in What Now . T hi s proj ect was undertaken i n 1985 and 1986; i t was organi zed by the Development Al ternati ves Centre (CEPAUR) in Chi le and the Dag Hammarskj l d Foundation, Sweden, and was di rected by Manfred Max-Neef. Ever si nce the resul ts of the proj ect were publi shed i n a Spani sh edi ti on of Devel opment Di alogue in 1986, under the ti tle of Desarrollo

93 93 94 99 103 105 105 106 108 110 112

a Escal a Hu mana: una opci n para el futuro, i t ha s att racted wi de attenti on in Latin Ameri ca. And i t i s probabl y not an exaggerati on to say that i t i s perhaps one of the most photocopi ed documents of its ki nd, having found its way to the most unexpected and remote pl aces. According to records kept at CEPAUR, close to fi fty seminars, symposi a and workshops have been hel d on the basi s of the report in different parts of the conti nent, many of them spontaneousl y organi zed by interested bodies wi thout assi stance from CEPAUR. T hus, "Human Scale Development" has become an i mportant topi c of the devel opment di scussi on i n South and Central Ameri ca. But there are al so more concrete exampl es of the i mpact of the report onpol i cymakers at the national and l ocal level s. Governmental bodi es i n Col ombi a, Venezuel a and Argentina have taken a keen i nterest i n the ideas advanced. In Argenti na, for i nstance, the Nati onal Mental Heal th Program i s bei ng adapted to accord with the i deas set out in the report, and i n the Argentine province of Mendoza, communi ti es, school s and hospi tal s are appl yi ng the pri ncipies and methodol ogy of Human Scal e Development in thei r work. More si gni fi cant, however, i s the extent to whi ch social movements and grassroots organi zati ons have been i nspi red by the report, and thi s despi te i ts, i n pan, hi ghl y theoreti cal character i t has, i n fact, been popul ari zed by grassroot s organi zati on s th rough po ste rs and even through comi c book styl e publi cations ai med at non- academi c readers. Further evidence of thi s i nterest are the hundreds of l etters recei ved by CEPAUR and the Dag Hammarskj l d Foundation, requesting not onl y addi ti onal copi es of the repon and copi es of the proj ect papers, but al so assi stance i n the organi zation of seminars and workshops as wel l as practi cal and fi nanci al assi stance in the i mpl ementation of Human Scal e Development programs. One can specul ate about the reasons for thi s unexpectedl y posi ti ve response, but one of them i s probabl y that Human Scal e Development, wi th i ts strong emphasi s on the role of human creati vi ty i n development, has provi ded a conceptual framework whi ch seems to show a way out of the steril e confrontati on between tradi ti onal developmentali sm and neo-l iberal monetari sm. Based on the pri nciple that "the purpose of the economy i s to serve the people, and not the people to

serve the economy" and on a sophi sti cated but unavoi dabl y controversi al in-depth anal ysi s of 11 te nature of human

needs, i t i s a chall enging new contri buti on l o devel opment phil osophy. T hi s book i s both an Engl i sh tran sl ati on of the ori gi nal Spani sh work and an extensi on of that work finto what the author call s "Further Reflecti ons." It shoul d meri t the attenti on of the international development communi ty as should the action programs now bei ng worked out by di fferent grassroots organi zati ons and by CEPAUR. Many of them, i ncludi ng CEPAUR, al so deserve being financial l y assi sted. It i s, therefore, sad to note that so far almost no such support has been forthcomi ng; development agenci es sti ll seem to prefer to lose thei r funds i n conventional fail ures rather than having to j usti fy thei r use i n unconventi onal successe s.

Dag Hammarskj l d Foundati on Hamrell Dag Hammarskj l d Centre rector vre Sl ottsgatan 2 S-752 20 Sweden Uppsal a,

Sven Executi ve Di

PREFACE

The essays contained in Part One of thi s book crystalli ze the work, essenti all y transdi sciplinary i n nature, carri ed out i n various countri es in Lati n Ameri ca by a team of researchers. It was prepared over a period of eighteen months with the col laborati on of professi onal s from Chile, Uruguay, Boli via, Colombia, Mexi co, Brazil , Canada and Sweden. T hei r experti se covered such academi c di sci pli nes as economi cs, soci ology, psychiatry, philosophy, poli ti cal sci ence, geography, anthropology, j ournali sm, engi neering and l aw. The parti cipants consti tuted a stabl e core group that guaranteed continuity in the processes of coll ecti ve investigation and reflecti on inherent in the project. From the beginning, cl ose working rel ations were establi shed, thus nurturi ng an i ntense i ntell ectual exchange. T he parti cipants gathered together three workshops during the project, whi ch was conducive to a profound reflecti on on various aspects of the devel opment problematique. In ad- dition, special guests were invited to each of the three workshops and enri ched the quali ty of the debate. The proceedi ngs of each of the workshops and the worki ng papers produced by the parti ci pants form the basi s of thi s book. The final com- pili ng and edi ti ng was the responsibi lity of the CEPAUR staff, whose challenge was to integrate in a coherent manner the di verse inputs rather than j ust refl ect the parti cular opini on of each of the parti ci pants. The document produced on the basi s of the three workshops was then di scussed at a final eval uation seminar at the Dag Hammarskj l d Centre

xii

Human Scale Development

Pr e face

xiii

i n Uppsala. * The conception presented in thi s book i s a contri bution to devel opment philosophy. As such, i t offers suggesti ons, whil e remaining open to further elaborati on. T hi s proj ect was the result of the j oi nt efforts of the Devel opment Al ternati ves Centre (CEPAUR) in Chil e and the Dag Hammarskj l d Foundation in Sweden. It grew out of the need to pl ace the Dag Hammarskj l d Report of 1975, entitl ed What Now : Another Devel opment, in the Latin Ameri can context, gi vi ng speci al consi derati on to the myri ad changes that have occurred in the last decade. The text that foll ows aspi res to have as i nterl ocutors persons i nvol ved in regional and l ocal development, planning, poli ti cs, academi c di sci pli nes concerned wi th devel opment and, most i mportantl y, those dedi cated to the humani zati on of a world in cri si s. Thus, the ideas presented here are an attempt to integrate fi nes of research, refl ecti on and acti on that substanti all y contribute to the constructi on of a new paradi gm of devel opment, l ess mechani sti c and more humane. Part One of thi s book was publi shed i n Spani sh as a speci al i ssue of Devel opment Di alogue i n 1986 under the ti tl e Desarol lo a Escal a Humana: una opcin para el futuro. That versi on was then transl ated i nto Engli sh by Joey Edwardh and Manfred MaxNeef and appeared in 1988 as another speci al i ssue of Development Di al ogue. A new secti on, "A Note on Methodol ogy," has been added to thi s book version, as have the fi nal two chapters which constitute Part T wo of the book. T he fi rst of these new chapters i s an expanded versi on of an essay on "The Pruning of Language," whi ch was publi shed i n 1988 i n modified form in Development, the journal of the Society for Internati onal Devel opment. T he second chapter i s an edi ted versi on of the

* The project team wishes to express its gratitude to the functionaries and academics of the Univ ersity of La Serena in Chile, the Federal Univ ersity of Pernambuco, Brazil, and the Foundation f or Dev elopment of the XII Region, Chile, for their enthusiastic support f or an efficient execution of the various regional seminars held throughout the duration of this project. Without the intellectual and material support of these institutions, the successful completion of this project would not have been possible.

Schumacher Memori al Lecture del i vered by the author i n October 1989 i n Bri stol, Engl and. Both of these addi tions to the present book represent, if not fini shed products, at least paths i nto new and open fiel ds of research and refl ection. They underscore the elusi ve and neverending search for fi nal answers i n the quest for human betterment through development. T he Devel opment Alternati ves Centre, CEPAUR, i s a non- governmental organi zation of i nternational scope, dedi cated, through research of a transdi sci plinary nature and acti on proj ects, to the reorientati on of development by sti mul ati ng forms of l ocal sel f-reliance, sati sfyi ng fundamental human needs and, in a more general sense, to promoti ng human scal e development.

Manfred Max-Neef Executi ve Di rector, CEPAUR

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORSManfred Max-Neef, Chil ean economi st, i s the founder and Executi ve Di rector of the Devel opment Al ternati ves Centre CEPAURin Chile. During the earl y 1960s he taught at the Uni versi ty of Californi a, Berkel ey, and l ater served at FAO and ILO as general economi st and as proj ect di rector, respecti vel y. He i s the Rector of the Uni versi dad Boli vari ana, a member of the Cl ub of Rome and the author of From the Outsi de Looking In: Experi ences in Barefoot Economi cs. In 1983 he recei ved the Right Li velihood Award, frequentl y descri bed as the Al - ternati ve Nobel Pri ze, at a ceremony in the Swedi sh Parli ament. Antonio Elizalde, Chil ean sociol ogi st, i s the Deputy Di rector of CEPAUR, Secretary-General of the Uni versi dad Bol i variana and Professor of Development T heories at the Di ego Portales Uni versi ty in Santiago. He was formerl y an expert wi th UNICEF and Di rector of Regional Pl anni ng i n Southern Chil e before the di ctatorship. Martin Hopenhayn, a U.S.-born phi losopher of Argenti nean parents, taught i n the School of Economi cs of the Uni versi ty of Chil e and worked as a Research Fellow in CEPAUR. A prolifi c and talented young wri ter of essays and aphori sms, he presently serves as an expert for the United Nations Economi c Commi ssi on for Latin Ameri ca and the Cari bbean i n Santi ago. In 1987 the three co-authors shared the Nati onal Pri ze for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights awarded by Edi torial Emi sin of Chile.

PART ONE : HUMA N SCALE DEVELOPME NT

1.RE-READING THE LATIN AMERIC AN SITU ATION: CRISIS AND PERPLEXITY

M an fr ed M ax-Neef, A n to n i o Eli z al d e and M artin Hopenhayn

A Crisis of Proposals and a Crisis of UtopiasNowadays, i t i s almost commonplace to state that Latin Ameri ca i s i n a state of cri si s. The descriptions and interpretati ons of thi s cri si s are many; hence, the diagnosi s of the di sease i s seemingl y compl ete. Due to the complexi ty of the symptoms that we are faced with, no consensus as to the treatment has been generated. Perpl exity, the outcome of a si tuati on for which we cannot recognize a precedent, has kept us i n a deadend alley and barred the road to imagi nati ve, novel and bol d soluti ons. However, intuition suggests that the convenci onal and tradi cional

2 Development

Human Scale

prescri pti ons, regardless of whoever may have proposed them, will not work. Nonethel ess, there i s a ki nd of paral yzi ng fear i nhi bi ting the desi gn of radi call y di fferent approaches that could eventuall y eman- ci pate us from thi s state of confusi on. Thi s fear i s qui te understandable. It i s not easy to put aside theoreti - cal and i deologi cal constructions al ong wi th thei r corresponding strategi es for acti on that over the years has been the basi s not onl y of beliefs, expl anati ons and hopes but al so of passi ons. But the fact i s that the extent of thi s cri si s seems to go far beyond our capaci ty to assimil ate i t full y, understand it and, hence, i nternali ze i t. T hi s cri si s i s not just economi c, nor j ust soci al, cultural or politi cal. On the contrary, i t i s the convergence of all these, whi ch, added together, become an enti rety ex- ceeding the sum of i ts parts. At a pol iti cal level , the cri si s becomes very acute owi ng to the i n- effici ency of the exi sting representative poli tical mechani sms in copi ng wi th the actions of the financial power eli te, the i ncreasi ng i nternati onali zation of poli ti cal deci si ons and the l ack of control of the ci ti zenry over publi c bureaucraci es. The increase i n technologi cal control over society, the arms race and the lack of a deep-rooted democrati c cul ture i n Lati n Ameri can societi es al so contributes to the configura- tion of a pol iti cal universe whi ch does not have an ethi cal foundati on. At a soci al l evel, the increasi ng fragmentati on of sociocultural i denti ties, the l ack of integrati on and communi cation between soci al movements and the i ncreasing i mpoveri shment and marginali zati on of the masses have made the confli cts wi thin the soci eties unmanageable as well as renderi ng constructi ve responses to such conflicts impossi bl e. At an economi c l evel , the system of domi nati on i s undergoing wi despread changes as a resul t of the foll owi ng processes: the i nter- nationali zati on of the economy; the boom of financi al capi tal with i ts enormous power of concentration; the cri si s of the welfare state; the i n- creasi ng parti cipation of the mili tary complex in the economi c li fe of the countri es; and the mul tiple effects of successi ve technologi cal changes on the patterns of production and consumption. These complex and interacting forces place T hi rd Worl d countri es in a posi ti on of enormous di sadvantage. They are forced, wi th

the com- pli ci ty of government and the ruli ng classe s, to demand tremendous sacri fi ces at great social cost i n order to "heal " thei r fi nanci al systems

Re-readi ng the La ti n A merica n Si tua ti on : 3 Crisis Perplexity* We have chosen "dev elopmentalism" as the best translation for the Spanish "desarrollismo." It refers to the development philosophy promoted mainly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) during the 1950s and 1960s.

and

and meet thei r wel l -known debt-servi cing obli gati ons to the credi tor countries of the industri ali zed world. In the face of thi s uncertai n com- binati on of ci rcumstances, whi ch i s more awesome than gratifyi ng, the answe rs and que st s for al terna ti ve s to autho ri ta ri ani sm , to neoli berali sm, to devel opmental i sm* and to popul i sm become bogged down in i ll -consi dered reacti ons and short-term programs. We have dubbed thi s si tuation the "cri si s of utopia" because i n our opi ni on i ts most seri ous mani festati on seems to li e in the fact that we are l osing, i f we have not lost al ready, our capaci ty to dream. We are struggli ng in an exhausti ng i nsomni a whi ch impai rs the lucidi ty so desperatel y needed to cope wi th our probl ems forcefull y and i magina- ti vel y. Instead, we have become drowsy managers of a cri si s whi ch we feel i s impossibl e to sol ve by our own means. Thi s drowsi ness, a product of the cri si s of utopia, takes many forms: a sense of defeat, a loss of wi ll , an over-excessi ve indi vi dual i sm, fear, anxi ety, cyni ci sm and demobili zation. T he i ssues and causes of the past, for whi ch we fought success- full y or unsuccessful l yseem today to be shrouded in mi st. Our reasons become di ffuse, and those of us who still retai n a will to strug- gle end up, wi thout reali zi ng i t, fighting causes that do not correspond to the real development i ssues at stake. T hus, our fi rst desperate effort i s to come to terms wi th oursel ves and in so doing persuade oursel ves that the best devel opment that we can expectover and above any of the conventional indi cators that often i nstill ed an inferiori ty complex in uswoul d be the devel opment of countri es and cul tures capable of bei ng coherent wi th themsel ves. T he proposal contained in thi s book does not purport to be a solution to our cri si s. It i s, nonethel ess, an opti on. It i s an al ternati ve stemming from a l ong process of col lecti ve thinki ng by a group of Lati n Ameri cans who were supported in thei r refl ections by a handful of friends from Sweden and Canada. In thi s book, we share our revi tali zed capaci ty to dream.

4 Development

Human

Scale

T AD).

Limitations to Our Development If we restri ct our anal ysi s to the economi c components of the cri si s and observe thei r hi stori cal behavior in the economi c and development poli ci es i mpl emented i n Lati n Ameri ca over the l ast four decades, we observe a cl ear pendul ar process. T he peri ods of expansi on eventuall y generate fi nanci al and monetary imbalances re sul ting i n stabil i zing responses whi ch, i n turn, ulti matel y bring about high soci al costs l eading to further expansion. In thi s pendul ar tendency, we can i denti fy cl earl y the two great economi c factions whi ch have been predomi nant in the Latin Ameri can context: devel opmentali sm and neo-li beral monetari sm. For different reasons, nei ther ori entation accompli shed i ts ori ginal obj ecti ves. However, not everythi ng i s negati ve in a failure so i t i s wel l worth devoti ng some careful thought to the manner i n whi ch each of these two perspecti ves have marked the economi c and soci o-pol iti cal hi story of the regi on. Frustrations of Developmentalism and Monetarism. Developmental i sm was a deepl y mobili zi ng experience. It was a generator of i deas and of currents of thought. During its period of predomi nance a number of important insti tutions were created: the Uni ted Nati ons Economi c Commi ssi on for Latin Ameri ca (ECLA), the Inter-Ameri can Development Ban k (I DB ), the Lati n Ame ri can F ree T ra de A sso ci ati on (LAFTA), the Andean Pact and important regi onal initiati ves such as the Alliance for Progress. Wi thin the di fferent nation states many i ni tiati ves were encouraged, including planning agenci es, various ki nds of devel opment organi zati ons, pol i cies that nurtured i ndustri ali zation, banki ng reforms, i mprovement of stati sti cal systems, people's movements and varied attempts at structural reforms. Al so, duri ng thi s period emerged the fi rst strong arguments and theses advocating the need to protect our exports affected by an ongoing deteriorati on of the terms of trade. Fi nall y, i t was those Latin Ameri can economi sts, a scri bi ng to developmentali sm, who became the determi nant actors i n the setting up of the Uni ted Nati ons Conference on T rade and Devel opment (UNC-

Re-reading the Latin American Situation: Crisis and Perplexity

5

conventi onal economi c i ndi cators notwi thstandi ng.

Duri ng the 1950s and I 960s, i t made perfect sense to speak of an ECLA current of thought or of a phi losophy of the IDB. A creati ve ef- fervescence domi nated these times. T he posi tions of these organi zations generated debate and for the fi rst time the centers of power i n the North argued back, i f defensi vel y. In the decade of the 1970s, thi s creati ve energy was sl owl y contai ned. T he Lati n Ameri can internati onal agencies began to l ose thei r ori ginal i dentity. Neo-liberal monetari sm, which had al ready made i ts sporadi c i ncursi onswithout managing to i mpose i ts character beyond the periods of stabi li ty i n the economi c cycl ebegan to break forth with al l its vi gor. Obviousl y, the fai lure of developmentali sm cannot be ascri bed ei ther to a l ack of ideas or to a dearth of creati vi ty. Much to the contrary, i ts contri butions in creating a ri ch and di versi fi ed economi c structure have been col ossal. Its failure was due to (a) i ts inabili ty to control monetary and financial imbal ances; (b) the producti ve structurepar- ti cul arl y industrythat i t generated placi ng great emphasi s on the concentrati on of resources; and (c) the fact that i ts approach to development was predominantl y economi c, thus neglecting other social and poli ti cal processe s that emerged wi th increasi ng strength and rel evance, especiall y after the tri umph of the Cuban Revoluti on. T he hi story of monetari st neo-li berali sm i s qui te di fferent. If devel opmentali sm was a generator of thought, monetari sm has been a concocter of prescri pti ons; at l east thi s i s true of the way in which it has mani fested i tself in our countri es. Wi thin our context, it i s not possi ble to detect i n a clearcut way a neo-li beral thought or philosophy as such. Thi s i s not because thi s current of thought l acks foundati ons; i t i s onl y necessary to read the Austri an economi sts to understand thi s. The probl em ari ses from praxi s where thi s perspective has been appli ed dogmati call y and without sensiti vi ty to the Lati n Ameri can context. Unli ke devel opmental i sm, monetari st neo-l i beral i sm has had cal ami tous re sul ts over a shorter ti me peri od. In Latin Ameri ca, i t has been sustai ned by di ctatorial or pseudo-democrati c regimes. T here i s evi dence enough that the pressure generated by the social costs of thi s model can onl y be kept under control by repressi on. Monetari st neo-li beral i sm resembles a Phoeni ci an col lapse that l eaves nothing after i t but a tremendous void, the posi ti ve appearance (i n some cases li ke Chi le) of

6 t

Huma n Scale Develo pmen

oyment; that soci al defi cits such as i nadequate housi ng have escalated; and, finall y, that the exi stence of a forei gn debt whi ch,

No doubt, monetari st neo-li beral i sm should have been applied more congruentl y wi th the wealth of thought of its creators especi all y the Austri ansbut i ts failure in the Latin Ameri can context woul d have been unavoidabl e. Thi s i s true for at least three reasons. Fi rst, i t i s abl e to encourage economi c growth, but i t i s not a generator of "devel opment" i n the widest sense of the word. Second, i ts assumpti ons of economi c rationali ty are profoundl y mechani sti c and therefore cannot be adapted to the condi ti ons of poor countri es, where i t i s impossi bl e to uproot poverty through the li berali zation of a market from which the poor are excl uded. T hi rd, in restri cted and ol igopoli sti c markets, where the economi c power groups are not confronted with forces able to check thei r behavior, economi c activi ty i s very speculati ve, resul ting i n a concentration of resources that i s soci all y unbearabl e. We must stress, fi nall y, that both school s of economic thought share some el ements, al though wi th di fferent intensi ty. Both have been affected by mechani sti c tendencies and have generated economi es based on concentration. From the point of vi ew of neoliberali sm, growth i s an end i n i tself and concentration i s accepted as a natural consequence. As for developmentali sm, growth i s an economi c condi ti on which wi ll bring about devel opment. Both assume that concentration en- courages growth __ an ascertainable fact i n stati sti cal terms. However, neo-li beral i sm does not see any seed whatsoever to check growth, while developmentali sm acknowl edges that there are limitati ons to growth but fail s to control it. The denouement of thi s story spanning forty years fi nal l y bri ngs us to the si tuation of perplexity i n whi ch we li ve today. Reactio ns to Fr ustra tio ns. T here are di fferent reacti ons to the current si tuation. T here are those, for i nstance, who hold that the di saster has not taken place after all. They make thei r poi nt by stati ng that over the last two and a hal f decades income l evel s have more than doubled, that there has been a remarkabl e economi c growth i n most of the region and exports have multi plied. All of thi s i s true. There are, however, those who unvei l the other face of reali ty: that poverty i s i ncreasi ng i n the popul ar sectors; that more than one-thi rd of the economi call y acti ve popul ation struggles between unemployment and underempl

Re-readi ng the La ti n A merica n Si tua ti on : Crisis ami Perplexity

7

regardless of ethi cal considerati ons as to thi s solution, i s cl early unpayabl e and may i ncrease our poverty and deplete our resources to structurall y i rreversi ble limi ts. T here are al so those who envi sage the possi bili ty of revi tal i zing schemes that were attracti ve i n the past by amending some mi stakes. Others, i ncl udi ng the authors of thi s book, percei ve an i mmense void where there i s room to desi gn radical alternati ves. The second positi on i s based not onl y on the perception of a wornout hi storical experience, but al so on an awareness that seri ous errors coul d be made if conventi onal soluti ons are appl ied to overcome thi s cri si s. In creati ng the future, there i s ei ther the ri sk of maki ng errors of percepti on, or of maki ng errors of action. Concerni ng perception, two seri ous mi stakes are often made. T he fi rst i s to beli eve that the Lati n Ameri can cri si s can be ascri bed pri ncipall y to an external cri si s. The second, stemming from the fi rst, i s to assume that our depressi on i s j ust a passi ng hi stori cal ci rcumstance. Al though i t i s true that external condi ti ons do consi derabl y i nfl uence dependent and vulnerable economies li ke ours, it i s, nonetheless, al so probabl e that a recovery of the capitali sti c economy in the North will not affect si gni ficantl y our own recovery. As the following paragraphs ill ustrate, the reason li es i n our possi ble errors of action. It would be a delusi on to base a strategy for future development on the expansi on of exports of primary products. Very simpl y, i ndi cators suggest that the bul k of primary products wi ll be affected, for different reasons, by unfavorabl e terms of trade. Moreover, others are al ready being repl aced by more effi cient substi tutes. Another strategy based on the di versi fi cati on of exports, that i s, of manufactured goods, would i n- evi tabl y come up against the protectioni st poli cies of the powers i n the North. Al so, to assume a type of development that i s nurtured by external ' contributi ons of capital i s ruled out al together due to the seri ous and i nsol uble condi ti on of i ndebtedness i n whi ch we are forced to li ve. From what has been argued, i t foll ows that our si tuati on i s not the resul t of a hi stori cal acci dent. In our opini on, the future li es in mustering all our energy to desi gn imaginati ve but viabl e al ternati ves. The condi tions for these al ternati ves seem to be quite cl ear. If the two school s of economi c thought whi ch

have prevail ed in the Lati n Ameri can setting have not been abl e to sati sfy the l egitimate needs of the Latin Ameri can masses, a new perspecti ve i s call ed for whi ch ai ms

8 Development

Human

Scale

* By "articulation" we mean the construction of coherent and consistent relations of balanced interdependence among giv en elements.

at an adequate sati sfacti on of human needs. Furthermore, i f future development cannot be sustai ned through the expansi on of exports or through substantial inj ections of forei gn capital , an al ternati ve devel opment must generate a capaci ty for greater sel frel iance.

Obje ctive s of Human Scale Developme ntThi s book proposes an ori entation whi ch would enable us to create condi tions for a new praxi s based on Human Scale Development. Such development i s focused and based on the sati sfaction of fundamental human needs, on the generation of growing level s of sel f-reliance, and on the constructi on of organi c arti culati ons of peopl e wi th nature and technol ogy, of global processes wi th local acti vi ty, of the personal wi th the social, of planni ng wi th autonomy and of ci vil soci ety wi th the state. * Human needs, self-reli ance and organi c articulations are the pil lars which support Human Scal e Development. However, these pil lars must be sustai ned on a solid foundati on whi ch i s the creation of those condi - tions where peopl e are the protagoni sts i n thei r future. If people are to be the main actors i n Human Scale Development, both the di versi ty as well as the autonomy of the spaces in whi ch they act must be respected. Attaini ng the transformation of an obj ect-person into a subject-person i n the process of devel opment i s, among other thi ngs, a probl em of scal e. T here i s no possi bili ty for the acti ve parti cipation of peopl e in gi ganti c sy stem s whi ch a re hi era rchi cal l y org ani zed and where deci si ons fl ow from the top down to the bottom. The S tate a nd S ocial Par ticipa ti on i n La ti n Ame rica. Human Scale Devel opment assumes a di rect and parti cipatory democracy. T hi s form of democracy nurtures those conditi ons that will hel p to transform the tradi ti onal , semi -paternali sti c rol e of the Latin Ameri can state into a rol e of encouraging creati ve sol utions flowing from the bottom up- wards. T hi s i s more consi stent with the real expectations of the people. Al though we do not clai m to offer a hi stori cal and soci ol ogi cal


9

anal ysi s of the model s of the states i n the regi on, i t seems important, however, to point out the hi stori cal inabili ty of these states to create spaces for popular parti cipation. T he conditions that l ed to i nde- pendence and the creati on of nati onal states i n Lati n Ameri ca were fol - l owed by devel opment processes whi ch were promoted and controll ed by the national oligarchies. In the realm of the politi cal , these new states appeared as liberal democraci es, whil e in the realm of the economi c, thei r aim was capi tali st devel opment and i ntegration into foreign markets. T hese democracies excl uded the popul ar masse s from pol iti - cal li fe, hence, depri ving them of channel s for social parti cipati on and access to pol iti cal power. T he cri si s of the oli garchi c state was tri ggered by the restri cted character of the spaces for parti ci pati on and the li mi ted access of the maj ori ty to soci al benefits. T hi s si tuation generated popul i st regi mes, the purpose of whi ch was to combi ne increased popul ar parti cipation wi th the formulati on of homogeneous nati onal projects geared to rapid yet secure moderni zation. T he pol i cies of popul i sm paved the way for new forms of pol iti cal representationuni versal suffrageand mechani sms for sectoral representation. As a form of government, the mai n contri bution of populi sm was to recogni ze social groups whi ch, until then, had been excl uded from poli ti cal acti vity. Since the state i tsel f assumed responsibili ty for the integration of new actors i n development, thi s resul ted in a considerable i ncrease i n i ts regulating function. Greater pol iti cal parti ci pati on of sectors i ncorporated i nto the soci opoli ti cal i nvol ved redi stri buti ve pol i cies managed by the state. The populi st state was strong enough to gain l egi timacy in the eyes of the tradi tional oligarchy. However, i t was compell ed to consolidate homogeneous national projects under pressure from such i nternal forces as powerful economi c i nterest groups and from such external forces as i mperial i st pol i cies i mposed by the ri ch countri es. T hese homogeneous projects were unabl e to reflect the heterogeneous nature of the sectors and communi ties whi ch make up civil soci ety. Hence, soci al parti ci pati on and popul ar acti on were undermined by the authoritari ani sm i nherent in the "si ngl e proj ect," and by bureaucrati c and paternali sti c mechani sms whi ch strengthened verti cal soci al rel a- ti ons and the concentrati on of

power. T he tension between homogeneous nati onal proj ects and the di ver-

10 Development

Human

Scale

arti culati on of projects to expand national autonomy and to di stri bute the fruits of

si ty of social actors demanding a rol e as protagoni sts i n thei r future i s repeated in the number of progressi ve regimes to be found in the regi on. T hese regi mes did not seek legi timacy through poli ti cal democracy whi ch makes them di fferent from the populi sm consti tuted by uni versal suffragebut via popular support obtai ned through the expansion of soci al benefi ts and through maki ng corporate-type trade uni ons beli eve that they were in control of many of the functions of the state. In the last two decades, regimes based on authoritariani sm and neo- l i beral monetari sm have domi nated the Southe rn Cone o f Lati n Ameri ca. In these states, pol iti cal power i s buttressed by the physi cal and psychol ogi cal repressi on of the ci vil popul ations. Moreover, the pol i cies i mplemented have meant the systemati c deci mati on of the soci o-economi c benefi ts whi ch wide sectors had attai ned under the protection of the populi st or progressi ve regimes. It i s i n these repressi ve regimes that those processes of soci al parti cipati on and popular protagoni sm have been arrested. It i s preci sely wi thi n these regimes and i n conjunction wi th the acute economi c cri si s that the democrati c opposi tion i s reassessi ng the need to establi sh an order based on poli ti - cal democracy with real soci al parti ci pati on. We wi sh to emphasi ze at thi s poi nt the democrati c nature of the al - ternati ve proposed. Instead of rel yi ng on stereotyped ideologi cal options, thi s book advocates the need to develop processe s of economi c and pol iti cal decentrali zation, strengthen genui ne democrati c i nsti tutions and encourage increasi ng autonomy in the emerging social movements. The creati on of a political order that can represent the needs and in- terests of a heterogeneous peopl e i s a challenge to both the state and civil society. The most pressi ng question, not only for a democratic state but al so for a society based on a democratic cul ture, i s how to respect and encourage di versi ty rather than control i t. In thi s regard, devel opment must nurture local spaces, facil itate mi cro-organi zations and support the mul tipli ci ty of cul tural matri xes compri si ng ci vil soci ety. Thi s type of devel opment must redi scover, consoli date and i ntegrate the di verse coll ecti ve i denti ties that make up the soci al body. Processes whi ch nurture di versi ty and i ncrease social parti cipati on and control over the envi ronment are deci si ve i n the


11

economi c development more equi tabl y. Hence, it i s essenti al to prevent the i ncreasing atomi zation of soci al movements, cul tural identi ties and communi ties. T o arti cul ate these movements, identi ties, strategi es and social demands i n global proposal s i s not possi ble through the programs of homogeni zation that have characteri zed the Latin Ameri can poli ti - cal tradi ti on. New i nsti tuti onal mechani sms capabl e of reconcili ng parti cipation wi th heterogeneity are requi red on the part of the state. Al so requi red are more acti ve forms of representati on and greater transl ucency in the practi ces of the publ i c sector. It i s not the purpose of thi s document to propose a state model that promotes Human Scale Devel opment. Rather, our emphasi s i s on em- powering ci vil soci ety to nurture thi s form of development. T hi s i s not to mi nimize the importance of the state but to develop further the potential rol e of soci al actors, of soci al parti cipation and of l ocal communi ti es. Our preoccupation i s a "soci al democracy" (or rather a "democracy of day-to-day l ivi ng"), which does not i mpl y a lack of concern for "poli ti cal democracy" but a fi rm beli ef that onl y through redi scoveri ng the "molecul ar" composi ti on of the social fabri c (mi cro-organi zations, local spaces, human scal e relati ons) i s a political order founded on a democratic culture possi ble. We believe that i n order to avoid the atomi zation and the exclusi on of peoplebe i t i n political, soci al or cul tural termsi t i s absol utel y necessary to generate new ways of concei vi ng and practi ci ng poli ti cs. Thus, thi s book attempts to open up a space for criti cal reflection on the way we l ive and, more importantl y, on the urgent need to develop a new pol iti cal praxi s. Fads and Biases in Development Discourse. Beyond the limi ted synthesi s provi ded in the preceding sections, our shared thi nking has enabl ed us to reach some conclusions about the pressi ng need to modi fy substanti all y our concepts and approaches to devel opment. We li ve and work wi thin a hi stori cal age whi ch ignores the sub-hi s- tory that makes i t possi bl e. Hence, on a day-to-day basi s we observe the seri ous di screpancies that exi st between the rhetori c and acti ons of poli ti cal leaders and the expectations and ambi tions of the popul ar sectors. We seek to j ustify our actions in the

thoughts ascribed to the defunct hero of the day. We do thi s wi thout even real i zing the wi sdom of the men and the women who rai se the corn, and in shari ng it with those who

12

Human Scale Development

share their misery, man age to survivenot because of w hat w e have done, but despite of w hat w e have not done. We live and w ork w ithin models of society that overlook the grow - ing co mplexity of the real society in w hich w e are immersed. There f ore, w e w atch the f everish and obsessive doings of the technocrats w ho design solutions bef ore having identif ied w here the real proble ms lie. We seek the justif ication of the mode ls in the mod els the mselves, so that w hen the solutions f ail, it is not due to a f ailure of the model but to entrapments set up by reality. That reality, the presence of w hich is strongly f elt, is not perceived as a challenge to be f aced, but rather as a problem to be brought under control by re-applying the mode l w ith greater tenacity. We live and w ork according to the tenets of our f ormally acquired know ledge. Thus, w e see in so many leaders a pat holog ical f ear of peoples action and of freedom. The people are to be helped and guided by those w ho arrogantly ignore w hat the people n eed and w ant. Thus, programs are designed to develop "aw areness," because f or some odd reason it is assumed that those w ho suff er are not aw are of the reasons f or their suff ering. We live and w ork to construct an order, w ithout understanding w hat can be ordered or w hat w e are putting in order. We constantly w itness an obsession w ith f orm, w hich allow s us to conceal our unconscious f ear about the uncertainties underlying the problems at stake. We con f use law w ith justice and regulat ions w ith eff iciency. We identif y generosity w ith charity and participation w ith f avors granted f rom the top. We use w ords w ithout living up to the ir content and w e eventually come up w ith caricatures instead of consistent contexts w ithin w hich to sustain the construction of our individual and collective lif e projects. Taking int o account w hat has been stated, the proposal w e have developed is not a mode l. It is an open option w hich is justif ied only to the extent that w e understand it, internalize it and imple ment it through a praxis that is in itself a process in constant motion. There is nothing in it that advocates a f inal

solution, since w e are f ully aw are that human beings and their surroundings are part of a permanent f low w hich cannot be arrested by rigid and static mod els.

2. DEVELOPME NT AND H U MAN NEED S

M anfr ed M ax-N eef, A ntonio Elizalde and Martin Hopenhayn Reflections on a New Perspective Is There Anything to Be Added to That Already Stated?The literature on hu man ne eds is vast and in many cases has contributed substantia lly to our understanding of this issue. It has in f luenced the f ields of philosophy and psychology and has become a f ocus of attention in th e po lit ical, econo mic and social disciplines in general. In recent years, international agencies, concerned w ith promoting develop men t, have ad opted as their criterion f or action the satisf action of so-called basic needs. In 197 5, the Dag Ha mmarskj ld Rep ort, What No w: Another Development, estab lished such an aim as one of the pillars of a new type of development to be estab lished urgent ly

14

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs

15

in order to overcome the degrading state of impoveri shment that hol ds the majori ty of the i nhabi tants of the Thi rd World i n i ts clutches. Nowadays, it i s accepted al most as commonplace that devel opment and human needs are i rreducible components of a singl e equation. However, wi thi n thi s perspecti ve there i s sti l l much to be done. Fi rst, thi s new approach, interweavi ng devel opment and human needs, must go far beyond a simple makeshi ft rehashi ng of a paradigm in a state of cri si s. From the very outset, i t i nvol ves creati ng condi tions for a new way of conceptuali zi ng devel opment. It mean a substantial modi fi cati on of the prevaili ng perceptions about strategies for devel opment. For i nstance, no "New Internati onal Economi c Order" can be relevant i f i t i s not supported by the structural reformulati on of a com- pact network of "New Local Economi c Orders." Li kewi se, i t means acknowledgi ng that the soci al and economi c theori es, whi ch have sustai ned and di rected the processes of development, are not onl y incompl ete but al so inadequate. It entai l s becoming aware that new and more di squieting frustrations will domi nate our i ncreasi ngl y heterogeneous and i nterdependent worl d if development model s, based on mechani sti c theories and mi sl eadi ng aggregate i ndi cators, are appl ied. Human Scal e Devel opment, geared to meeti ng human needs, requi res a new approach to understandi ng real ity. It compel s us to percei ve and asse ss the worl d, that i s, peopl e and thei r processes i n a manner whi ch differs completel y from the conventi onal one. Li kewi se, a theory of human needs for development must be understood preci sel y i n those termsas a theory for devel opment.* In much the same way that a geologi st i n exami ni ng a stone will see attri butes other than those percei ved by an architect, human needs are di scerned di fferentl y, according to the i deologi cal and di scipli nary lens of the vi ewer. Thi s i s not to suggest that we should come up wi th new forms of reductioni sm; on the contrary, the di fferent percepti ons and understandi ngs are interwoven facets of the human needs i ssue. What i s at stake here i s a questi on of form and of emphasi s. T he challenge to all of us i s to internal ize an approach to devel opment based on human needs whi ch, once understood, wi ll

* We use here the notion of theory as a deductive process evolv ing f rom a set of postulates.

gui de our acti ons and expectati ons. The Need for Tra nsdisc ipli nar y A ppr oaches. T he purpo se of thi s secti on i s to make a theory of human needs understandabl e and operati onal for devel opment. T hi s effort i s not grounded i n any parti cul ar fi eld of study, as the new reality and the new chall enges inevitabl y compel us to adopt transdi sci pl inary approaches.* Evidence for thi s orientati on i s provi ded by the fact that we are rarel y anal yzing a speci fi c problem but i nstead a web of complex i ssues that cannot be resol ved through the appli cation of conventi onal pol i cies founded upon reducti oni st di sci pli nes. In much the same way that a di sease i s a medical problem, and that the same di sease having become an epidemi c transcends the field of medi cine, our present chall enge li es not onl y i n how to deal wi th probl ems, but al so i n how to cope with the tremendous magni tude of the probl ems. T hei r growing magni tude and compl exi ty i s transformi ng probli sci pl inary contours i nto probl em compl exes of a di ffuse transdi sci pli nary character. In the throes of the terror of the French Revolution, Marqui s de Sade uttered i n di smay: "There i s no longer any beauti ful indi vi dual death." In an anal ogous way, i n the midst of the present reali ty that overpowers us we can excl aim: "T here i s no l onger any beauti ful speci fi c probl em." Onl y a transdi sciplinary approach all ows us to understand, for example, how poli ti cs, economi cs and heal th have converged. T hus, we di scover an i ncreasi ng number of cases where poor heal th i s the outcome of unsound pol iti cs and bad economi cs. If economi cs poli ci es desi gned by economi sts, affect, whi ch they do, the whole of soci ety,

* Transdisciplinarity is an approach that, in an attempt to gain greater understanding, reaches beyond the f ields outlined by strict disciplines. While the language of one discipline may suffice to describe something (an isolated element, for instance), an interdisciplinary eff ort may be necessary to explain something (a relation between elements). By the same token, to unde rstand somethi ng ( a sy stem as interpreted f rom anothe r sy stem of higher complexity) requires a personal inv olvement that surp asses disc ipl in ary f rontiers, thus m akin g it a t rans disci pli na ry experience.

16


Development and Human Needs between needs

17

economi sts can no l onger cl aim that they are sol el y concerned with the economi cs fiel d. Such a stance would be unethi cal , si ne i t woul d mean avoi di ng the moral responsi bil ity for the consequences of an acti on. We face bewil dering si tuati ons where we understand l ess and l ess. If we do not devote considerabl y more energy and imagi nation to desi gning si gni fi cant and consi stent transdi sci pli nary approaches, our soci eties will conti nue to di sintegrate. We li ve in a period of transi tion, whi ch means that paradi gm shi fts are not onl y necessary but i ndi spen- sabl e.

and sati sfiers of those needs i s ei ther not mide expli ci t or i s overlooked

Three Postulate s and Some PropositionsDevelopment i s about peopl e and not about objects. T hi s i s the basi c postulate of Human Scal e Development. T he acceptance of thi s postul atewhether on i ntui ti ve, ethi cal or rational groundsl eads to the foll owi ng fundamental questi on: How can we determi ne whether one devel opment process i s better than another? In the tradi ti onal paradi gm, we have indi cators such as the gross national product (GNP) that i s i n a way an indi cator of the quanti tati ve growth of objects. Now we need an i ndi cator about the q ual i ta ti ve g ro w th o f p eopl e . What should that be? Let us answer the question thus: b e st dev el opmen t p roc e ss w i l l be tha t whi ch al l ow s t he greatest improvement in peopl e's quali ty of life. T he next questi on i s: What determi nes people's quality of li fe? Quality of li fe depends on the possibili ties peopl e have to adequatel y sati sfy thei r fundamental human needs. A thi rd questi on therefore ari ses: What are those fundamental human needs, and/or who decides what they are? T hese questions need to be examined before any answers can be suggested. N eed s a nd satis fiers . I t i s t radi ti onal l y bel i eved that human need s tend to be i nfi ni te, that they change all the time, that they are di fferent in each cul ture or envi ronment and that they are different in each hi stori cal peri od. It i s suggested here that such assumptions are inaccurate, si nce they are the product of a conceptual shortcoming. A preval ent shortcomi ng in the exi sti ng li terature and di scussi ons about human needs i s that the fundamental difference

al together. A cl ear di sti nction between both concepts i s necessary, as wi ll be shown l ater, for epi stemol ogi cal as wel l as methodol ogi cal reasons. Human needs must be understood as a sy stem: that i s, all human needs are i nterrelated and i nteracti ve. With the sole exception of the need of subsi stence, that i s, to remai n ali ve, no hierarchies exi st within the system. On the contrary, si multanei ti es, compl ementari ti es and trade-offs are characteri sti cs of the process of needs sati sfaction. As the li terature in thi s area demonstrates, human needs can be sati sfied accordi ng to many cri teri a. We have organized human needs into two categori es: exi stenti al and axi ol ogi cal , whi ch we have combined and di spl ayed in a matri x. (See Tabl e 1, page 32.) Thi s all ows us to demonstrate the i nteraction of, on the one hand, the needs of Being, Having, Doi ng and Interacti ng; and, on the other hand, the needs of Subsi stence, Protection, Affecti on, Understanding, Parti ci pati on, Idl eness, Creati on, Identi ty and Freedom.* From the cl assi fi cation proposed, i t follows that, food and shelter, for exampl e, must not be seen as needs but as sati sfi ers of the fundamental need for Subsi stence. In much the same way, educati on (ei ther formal or informal ), study, i nvestigati on, earl y stimul ati on and medi tati on are sati sfiers of the need for Understandi ng. T he curati ve sy stems, preventi ve systems and heal th schemes in general are sati sfi ers of the need for Protecti on. T here i s no one-to-one correspondence between needs and sati sfi ers. A sati sfi er may contribute si multaneousl y to the sati sfacti on of di fferent needs or, conversel y, a need may requi re vari ous sati sfi ers i n order to be met. Not even these relati ons are fi xed. They may vary according to time, pl ace and ci rcumstance. For example, a mother breastfeeding her baby i s si mul taneousl y sati sfying the infant's needs for Subsi stence, Protecti on, Affection and Identity. T he si tuati on i s ob-

case, idleness is not laziness.

* Although in Judeo-Christian culture, we have been told that "idleness is the mother of all v ices," we strongly believe that it carries many virtues. In fact, Idleness and Creation seem to be inseparable if the f ormer is understood as "the state of mind and spirit that is inv iting to the muses." A brilliant argumentation about the subject may be found in Bertrand Russell's In Praise of Idleness. In any

18



19

vi ousl y di fferent i f the baby i s fed i n a more mechani cal fashion. Havi ng establi shed a difference between the concepts of needs and sati sfi ers i t i s possi bl e to state two addi tional postul ates. Fi rst: Fun- damental human needs are fi ni te, few and cl assi fi able. Second: Fun- damental human needs (such as those contai ned in the system proposed) are the same in all cul tures and i n all hi stori cal periods. What changes, both over ti me and through cul tures, is the way or the mean by w hi ch the needs are sati sfied. (See Argumentati on, pages 23-28.) Each economi c, soci al and pol i ti cal sy stem adopt s di fferent methods for the sati sfaction of the same fundamental human needs. In every system, they are sati sfi ed (or not sati sfi ed) through the generati on (or non-generati on) of different types of sati sfi ers. We may go as far as to say that one of the aspects that defi ne a cul ture i s i ts choi ce of sati sfi ers. Whether a person bel ongs to a consumeri st or to an asceti c soci ety, hi s/her fundamental human needs are the same. What changes i s hi s/her choice of the quanti ty and quali ty of sati sfi ers. In short: What i s cul tural ly determi ned are not the fundamental human needs, but the sati sfiers for those needs. Cul tural change i s, among other thi ngs, the consequence of dropping traditional sati sfiers for the purpose of adopti ng new or different ones. It must be added that each need can be sati sfi ed at di fferent l evel s and wi th di fferent intensi ti es. Furthermore, needs are sati sfied wi thin three contexts: (a) wi th regard to oneself (Ei genwelt); (b) wi th regard to the social group (Mi tw el t); and (c) wi th regard to the envi ronment (U mw el t). T he quali ty and intensi ty, not onl y of the level s but al so of contexts, wil l depend on time, place and ci rcumstances. Pov erty and Poverties. The proposed perspecti ve all ows for a re- i nterpretati on of the concept of poverty. The traditional concept of poverty i s li mi ted and restri cted, si nce i t refers excl usi vel y to the predi caments of people who may be classi fied bel ow a certain income threshold. Thi s concept i s stri ctl y economi stic. It i s suggested here that we should speak not of poverty but of poverti es. In fact, any fundamental human need that i s not adequatel y sati sfi ed reveal s a human poverty. Some exampl es are as fol lows: poverty of subsi stence (due to insuffi cient income, food, shel ter,

etc.); of protecti on (due to bad heal th sy stems, viol ence, arms race, etc.); of affection (due to authori tariani sm,

oppressi on, expl oi tati ve relati ons wi th the natural envi ronment, etc.); of understandi ng (due to poor quali ty of educati on); of parti cipation (due to marginali zation and di scri mi nati on of women, chil dren and mi nori ties); and of identity (due to impositi on of alien values upon l ocal and regi onal cul tures, forced mi gration, poli ti cal exile, etc.). But poverties are not onl y poverties. Much more than that, each poverty generates pathol ogies. Thi s i s the crux of our di scourse.

Economics and Pathologie sThe great maj ori ty of economi c anal ysts woul d agree that ri si ng unemployment everywhere and T hi rd Worl d i nternational indebtedness rank as the two most important economi c problems of todays world. In the case of Latin Ameri ca, hyperinfl ation should be added. Unem pl o ymen t. Unempl oyment i s a p robl em that ha s al wa y s exi sted i n industri al ci vili zati on to a greater or l esser degree, but because i t has become a structural component of the world economi c sy stem as we know i t, everything seems to i ndi cate that we are now faci ng a new type of unempl oyment that i s here to stay. It i s known that a person sufferi ng from extended unemployment goes through an emoti onal rollercoaster experi ence" whi ch i nvol ves at least four phases: (a) shock, (b) optimi sm, (c) pessi mi sm and (d) fatali sm. T he last phase represents the transi ti on from frustration to stagnati on and from there to a fi nal state of apathy, where the person reaches hi s/her lowest level of sel f-esteem. It i s quite evi dent that extended unemployment will totall y upset a person's fundamental needs sy stem. Due to subsi stence problems, the person will feel increasingl y unprotected, cri si s i n the famil y and guil t feeli ngs may destroy affecti ons, l ack of parti cipation wi ll gi ve way to feeli ngs of i solation and margi nali zati on and declini ng self-esteem may very well generate an i denti ty cri si s. Extended unemployment generates pathol ogies. But, gi ven the present ci rcumstances of general i zed economi c cri si s, we must no longer think of pathol ogi es as affecti ng i ndi vidual s. We must necessari l y recogni ze the exi stence of coll ecti ve pathologi es of frustrati on, for whi ch tradi tional treatments have been i neffi ci ent. Although unemployment i s caused by economic processes, once i t

20


has reached criti cal proporti ons, both i n quantity and durati on, there i s no economi c treatment capable of sol ving the problematique. It has become an i ssue of transdi sci pli nary proporti ons that sti l l remai ns to be understood and constructed. T hi s, in terms of a program for the future, represents the fi rst chall enge. External Debt. T he external debt of the T hi rd Worl d i s al so responsi ble for another set of col lecti ve pathologi es. Very si mpl y, the sound- ness of the i nternational banki ng system i s mai ntai ned at the expense of the health and well -bei ng of Thi rd Worl d peoples. As John Gummer, President of the Briti sh Conservati ve Party, commented i n 1985 i n The Guardi an: "The Uni ted States imports the savi ngs of the rest of the worl d and exports i nfl ation. Thi s i s a seri ous probl em." Due to prevail - ing ci rcumstances the debtor countries must ini tiate an era based on the poli ti cs of hardship so as to maximi ze thei r revenues through exports. Thi s occurs unavoidabl y at the expense of the i rreversibl e depredati on of many natural resources and the i ncreasi ng impoveri shment of people. Thi s process of i mpoveri shment does not vary wi th the ups and downs of the market for it i s structural in nature. To ascertai n the nature of the terrible collecti ve pathologies, whi ch are ari sing in the poor countries as a consequence of thi s aberrant si tuation, i s the second chal lenge. Hyperinflation. T he Lati n Ameri can experi ence demonstrates that hyperinflation i s a phenomenon that goes far beyond the economic fi eld and affects all aspects of soci ety. During the l ast few years, countries, such as Brazil , Argenti na, Boli via and Peru, have been devastated psychologi call y and soci all y by a currency in which thei r users have littl e v confi dence. Over and abo e the economi c consequences of dail y deval uati on (financial specul ation, a chroni c decrease in producti ve i n- vestments and a systematic deterioration of real wages), constant i nfl a- ti on, with annual rates of three or even four di gi ts, erodes a peopl e 's fai th i n thei r country and gi ves ri se to a deep uncertai nty about the future. Concern for the "heal th" of a currency generates col lecti ve feel - i ngs of growing pessi mi sm i n rel ation to the country, the state and the future of each individual . T hi s acute deterioration i n confi dence, along wi th a sense of uncertai nty and scepti ci sm create a

Development and Human Needs 21 phenomenon whi ch i s di ffi cul t to reverse and an envi ronment where i nnovati ve al ternati ves

capabl e of overcomi ng an i nflati onary cri si s are al most impossi bl e to generate. T he i ssue of hyperinfl ati on has economi c, soci al and psychol ogical component. The new concept of i nertial i nflati on acknowledges that i nflati on, in part, feeds on itsel f. T hat i s to say, infl ationary expectations condi tion the behavi or of i ndi vidual s in such a way that the inflationary spi ral i s accelerated, thus becoming a self-ful filling prophecy. Hence, the onl y effecti ve way to cope wi th thi s i ssue i s through a consi stent transdi sci pli nary strategy. Onl y three exampl es have been gi ven here. However, there are many other economi c processe s whi ch, when concei ved and designed i n a technocrati c manner and wi thi n a reducti oni st perspecti ve, can generate coll ecti ve pathol ogies. All economi sts should exerci se the necessary sel f-cri ti ci sm i n order to recogni ze these maladi es and anti ci pate thei r detection. T hi s i mplies, of course, the wi lli ngness to adj ust to a princi ple whi ch i s almost al ways forgotten: the purpose of the economy i s to serve the people, and not the people to serve the economy. Politics and Pathologies Persecuti ons that ari se from poli ti cal , religi ous and other forms of i ntolerance are as old as humani ty. However, the "achi evement" of our times i s the tendency of the pol iti cal leaders to di rect thei r actions according to such i ncredibl y schi zophreni c generali zations about "the enemy" that we are headi ng strai ght toward omni ci de, that i s, the destruction of us all . Fear. Such poli ti cal schi zophrenia i s not onl y to be found at the level of global confrontations between the big powers; i t al so has its counterparts (mi rror i mages) at many national l evel s. They are all accountabl e for the great increase i n col lecti ve pathologi es of fear. We suggest four categori es of coll ecti ve pathol ogies of fear organi zed accordi ng to thei r o ri gi n: (a ) tho se cau sed by semanti c conf u si on s du e t o i deol o gi c al mani p ul ati o n; (b ) th o se th at sp ri ng f rom viol ence; (c) tho se cau sed by i sol ati on, exil e or margi nal i zati on; and (d) t ho se tha t com e f rom the fru st rati o n of l i fe p roj e ct s. Mo st c e rtai nl y, there are others bot 'hese seem to be enough by Gay off example

22



23

Eup hemisms. T he di scou rse s o f power a re ful l of euphemi sm s. Words no longer fit wi th facts. Annihil ators are call ed nuclear arms, as i f they were si mpl y a more powerful versi on of conventi onal arms. We are "the free world", a worl d full of examples of the most obscene i n- equiti es and violations of human rights. In the name of the people, sy stems are created where peopl e must simply compl y obedientl y wi th the di ctums of an "almi ghty state." Peaceful protest marchers are severel y puni shed and i mpri soned for publi c di sorder and subversion, whil e state terrori sm i s accepted as l aw and order. Examples could fill many pages. The end resul t i s that people cease to understand and, as a consequence, ei ther turn into cyni cs or mel t i nto i mpotent, perpl exed and ali enated masses. Violence, Marginalization and Exile. Vi olence di rectl y upsets the need for Protecti on, thus i nduci ng i ntense anxi ety. Isol ati on, marginali zation and poli ti cal exile destroy peopl e's i dentity and break up famili es, destroying natural affecti on and creating guil t feelings which are often accompanied by sui ci dal fantasi es or attempts. T he frustrati on of li fe projects by poli ti cal intolerance systemati call y erodes the creati ve capaci ty of peopl e, leading them sl owl y from acti ve resentment i nto apathy and l oss of sel festeem. Our thi rd challenge consi sts of recogni zing and assessi ng those col l ecti ve pathologies generated by diverse soci o-poli ti cal sy stems. Every sy stem creates in i ts own way obstacles to the sati sfacti on of one or more needs, such as Understandi ng, Protection, Identi ty, Affecti on, Creation and Freedom.

SummaryT he main concl usions we can raw are:

1. Any fundamental human need not adequatel y sati sfi edgenerates a pathology.

2. Up to the present we have developed treatments for indi vidualand small group pathol ogies. 3. T oday, we are faced wi th a dramati c increase i n col lecti ve pathol ogies for whi ch treatments have proved

4.

T he understandi ng of these col lecti ve pathologi es requi res transdi sci pli nary research and acti on.

T he fourth chall enge i s to devel op a frui tful di al ogue in pursui t of a constructi ve i nterpretati on of the i ssue s and sol utions rai sed i n thi s book. New coll ecti ve pathol ogies will be generated wi thin the short and long term i f we mai ntain traditi onal and orthodox approaches. There i s no sense in heali ng an i ndividual who i s then expected to go back and li ve i n a si ck envi ronment. Every di sci pli ne, in becomi ng i ncreasi ngl y reducti oni st and technocrati c, has gi ven way to a process of dehumani zati on. T o humanize oursel ves again from wi thi n our own di sciplines i s the great chall enge. Onl y such an effort can bui ld the foundati ons for a frui tful transdi sci pli - nary endeavor that may trul y contri bute to the sol uti on of the real probl ematique affecting our worl d today. A sense of re sponsi bi li ty for the future of humani ty along wi th transdi sci pli nary acti on i s cruci al . Thi s may be our onl y defense. If we do not take up the chall enges, we will all be accompl i ces i n creating and maintaini ng si ck soci eties.

Argumentation Human Nee ds: Deprivation and PotentialA devel opment poli cy ai med at the sati sfacti on of fundamental human needs goes beyond the conventional economic rationale because i t appli es to the human being as a whol e. T he relati ons establ i shed between needs and thei r sati sfiers make i t possi ble to develop a philosophy and a poli cy for devel opment whi ch are genui nel y humani sti c. T he very essence of human beings i s expressed palpabl y through needs i n thei r twofol d character: as depri vati on and as potential . Underst oo d a s mu c h mo re t han m e re su rvi val , ne ed s b ri ng o ut the c on st ant tension between depravation and potenti al that i s so peculi ar to human

24

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t Needs, narrowl y concei ved as depri vati on, are often restri cted to that whi ch i s merel y physi ologi cal and as such the sensati on that "something whi ch i s lacking i s acutel y fel t." However, to the degree that needs engage, moti vate and mobili ze peopl e, they are a potenti al and eventually may become a resource. The need to participate i s a potenti al for parti ci pati on, just as the need for affecti on i s a potenti al for affecti on. To approach the human being through needs enables us to build a bridge between a philosophi cal anthropology and a poli ti cal opti on; thi s ap- pears to have been the moti vati on behind the intell ectual efforts of, for exampl e, Karl Marx and Abraham Masl ow. T o understand human bei ngs i n terms of needs, that i s, concei ved as depri vation and potential , will prevent any reducti on of the human being i nto a category of a restri cted exi stence. Moreover, i f needs are conceptualized in thi s way, i t i s inappropriate to speak of thei r being "sati sfied" or "ful fill ed." T hey refl ect a dial ecti c process i n as much as they are i n constant movement. Hence, it may be better to speak of reali zi ng, experienci ng or actuali z- i ng needs through time and space.


25

al I of whi ch are in a permanent state of tensi on between consoli dati on

Human Nee ds and SocietyIf we wi sh to defi ne and assess an envi ronment in the light of human needs, i t i s not suffi cient to understand the opportunities that exi st for groups or indivi dual s to actuali ze thei r needs. It i s necessary to anal yze to what extent the envi ronment represses, tol erates or sti mul ates opportuni ties. How accessi ble, creati ve or fl exi ble i s that envi ronment? T he most important question i s how far peopl e are abl e to i nfluence the structures that affect thei r opportuni ti es. Satisfiers and Economic Goods. It i s the sati sfiers whi ch define the prevailing mode that a cul ture or a society ascri bes to needs. Sati sfi ers are not the availabl e economi c goods. They are rel ated instead to everythi ng which, by vi rtue of representi ng forms of Bei ng, Havi ng, Doing and Interacti ng, contributes to the actuali zation of human needs. (See page 30.) Sati sfiers may include, among other things, forms of organi zation, pol iti cal structures, social practi ces, subj ective condi ti ons, val ues and norms, spaces, contexts, modes, types of behavior and atti tudes,

and change. For exampl e, food i s a sati sfier of the need for Protection i n much the same way that a famil y structure might be. Li kewi se, a poli ti cal order may be a sati sfier of the need for Parti ci pati on. The same sati sfi er can actuali ze different needs i n di fferent cul tures and i n di fferent time peri ods. T he reason that a sati sfi er may have di verse effects i n vari ous context s i s due to the breadth o f the good s generated , how they a re generated and, how consumption i s organi zed. Understood as objects or arti facts whi ch make i t possi bl e to i ncrease or decrease the effi ci ency of a sati sfier, goods have become determi nant el ements wi thi n i ndustri al ci vi l i zati on. In i ndu st ri al capi tal i sm, the produc ti on of economi c goods al ong with the sy stem of allocating them has conditioned the type of sati sfiers that predomi nate. Whil e a sati sfier i s i n an ul ti mate sense the way in whi ch a need i s expressed, goods are i n a stri ct sense the means by whi ch indi vi dual s wi ll empower the sati sfi ers to meet thei r needs. When, however, the form of production and consumpti on of goods makes goods an end i n themsel ves, then the all eged sati sfaction of a need i mpai rs i ts capaci ty to create potenti al . Thi s, i n turn, leads to an ali enated soci ety engaged i n a senseless producti vi ty race. Li fe, then, i s pl aced at the servi ce of artifacts, rather than arti facts at the servi ce of li fe. The questi on of the quali ty of li fe i s overshadowed by our obsessi on to increase producti vi ty. Wi thi n thi s perspecti ve, the construction of a human economy poses an i mportant theoreti cal chall enge, namel y, to understand full y the dialecti c between needs, sati sfi ers and economi c goods. Thi s i s necessary i n order to conceive forms of economi c organi zation in whi ch goods empower sati sfi ers to meet full y and consi stentl y fundamental human needs. T hi s si tuati on compel s us to rethi nk the social context of human needs in a radi call y different way from the manner i n whi ch i t has better approached by soci al pl anners and desi gners of poli cies for development. It i s not onl y a questi on of having to relate needs to goods and se rvi ce s, but al so to rel ate them to soci al p racti ce s, of organi zat i on, pol i ti cal model s and val ue s. Al l of the se ha ve an i mpact on th e ways in whi ch needs are expressed.

26


Development and Human Needs uni versali ty of the subj ecti ve cannot be ignored.

27

In a cri ti cal theory of soci ety, i t i s not suffi ci ent to speci fy the predomi nant sati sfi ers and economi c goods produced wi thi n that soci ety. T hey must be understood as products whi ch are the resul t of hi stori cal factors and, consequentl y, liable to change. Thus, i t i s necessary to retrace the process of refl ecti on and creati on that condi tions the interacti on between needs, sati sfi ers and economi c goods.

Any attempt to observe the lil e of human bei ngs must recogni ze the

The Vindication of SubjectivityTo assume a di rect rel ation between needs and economi c goods has allowed us to develop a di sci pline of economi cs that presumes itsel f to be obj ecti ve. T hi s coul d be seen as a mechani sti c di sci pli ne in whi ch the central tenet i mpl i es that need s mani fest them sel ve s th rough demand whi ch, i n turn, i s determined by indi vidual preferences for the good s p rodu ced. T o i ncl ude sati sfi e rs wi thi n the f ramewo rk o f economi c anal ysi s i nvol ves vi ndi cating the worl d of the "subjecti ve" over v and abo e mere preferences for objects and arti facts. We can explai n how needs are metour own and those of others i n our mili eu, famil y, fri ends, members of the community, cul tural groups, the economi c system, the socio-poli ti cal system, the nation and so forth. We can try to understand how sati sfi ers and predomi nant economi c goods are related in our envi ronment to the manner i n whi ch we emotionall y express our needs. We can detect how sati sfi ers and the avai labili ty of goods constrai n, di stort or enhance the qual ity of our li ves. On thi s basi s, we can think of viabl e ways to organi ze and di stri bute the sati sfi ers and goods so that they nurture the process of actuali zi ng needs and reduce the possi bili ti es of frustration. T he ways in whi ch we experi ence our needs, hence the qual ity of our li ves i s, ultimatel y, subjecti ve. It woul d seem, then, that only universali zing judgment could be deemed arbitrary. An objection to thi s statement coul d well ari se from the ranks of posi ti vi sm. The identi fi cati on whi ch posi tivi sm establi shes between the subj ecti ve and the parti cul ar, although i t reveal s the hi storical failure of absolute ideali sm, i s a sword of Damocl es for the soci al sci ences. When the object of study i s the relati on between human bei ngs and soci ety, the

soci al character of subj ecti vi ty. It i s not impossi bl e to advance j udgments about the subj ecti ve. Yet, there i s a great fear of the consequences of such a refl ection. Economi c theory i s a clear exampl e of thi s. From the neo-cl assi cal economi sts to the monetari sts, the noti on of preferences i s used to avoi d the i ssue of needs. Thi s perspecti ve reveal s an acute rel uctance to di scuss the subj ecti ve-uni versal . Thi s i s parti cularl y true if i t i s a questi on of taking a stand in favor of a free market economy. Preferences bel ong to the real m of the subjecti ve-parti cul ar and therefore are not a threat to the assumpti ons that underl ie the rational e of the market. Whereas to speak of fundamental human needs compel s us to focus our attenti on from the outset on the subj ecti ve uni versal , whi ch renders any mechani sti c approach steril e. T he way i n whi ch needs are expressed through sati sfi ers vari es accordi ng to hi stori cal peri od and culture. T he social and economi c rel a- ti ons, defi ned by hi stori cal and cultural ci rcumstances, are concerned both wi th the subj ecti ve and the objecti ve. Hence, sati sfiers are w hat render needs hi stori cal and cul tural , and economi c goods are thei r materi al mani festation.

Human Nee ds: Time and RhythmsOwi ng to the dearth of empi ri cal evi dence, i t i s i mpossi ble to state wi th absol ute certainty that the fundamental human needs are hi stori call y and cul turall y constant. However, there i s nothing that prevents us from speaki ng of thei r socio-uni versal character because people everywhere want to sati sfy thei r needs. In refl ecting on the ni ne fundamental needs proposed i n thi s book, common sense, al ong wi th some socio-cul tural sensi ti vity, surely points to the fact that the needs for Subsi stence, Protection, Affecti on, Understandi ng, Parti cipation, Idl eness and Creation have exi sted si nce the origins of "homo habi li s" and, undoubtedl y, since the appearance of "homo sapi ens." Probabl y at a l ater stage of evoluti on the need for Identi ty appeared and, at a much l ater date, the eed for Freedom. In much the same way, i t i s l i kel y that i n the futu re the need for T ran scendence, whi ch i s not i ncl uded in our proposal a s we do not yet con si der i t uni versal , wi l l be-come as uni versal a s the (other need s. If seem s Men, to as sume that fundamental human needs change wi tb the pace ofn

28

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t evol ution, that i s to say, at a very sl ow rate. T herefore, fundamental human needs are not onl y uni versal , but are al so entwi ned wi th the evol ution of the species. T hey follow a si ngl e track. Sati sfi ers behave in two ways: they are modi fi ed accordi ng to the rhythm of hi story and vary according to cul ture and ci rcumstance. Economi c goods (arti facts, technol ogies) behave in three different ways: they are modi fi ed accordi ng to epi sodi c rhythms (vogues, fashions) and di versify accordi ng to cultures and, wi thin those cultures, according to soci al strata. In summary, perhaps we may say that fundamental human needs are essential attributes related to human evol uti on; sati sfi ers are forms of Bei ng, Having, Doing and Interacting rel ated to structures, and economi c goods are objects rel ated to parti cul ar hi stori cal moments. Evolutionary, structural and epi sodi c changes take pl ace at di fferent paces and in di fferent rhythms. The movement of hi story places the human being in an i ncreasi ngl y unrhythmi cal and unsynchroni zed domain in which human concerns are neglected more and more. In the present moment, thi s si tuation has become extreme. The speed of producti on and the di versi fi cati on of objects have be-come ends i n themselves and as such are no longer able to sati sfy any need whatsoever. People have grown more dependent on thi s system of producti on but, at the same time, more ali enated from i t. It i s only i n some of the regions marginali zed by the cri si s, and i n those groups whi ch defy the prevai ling styl es of development, that autonomous processes are generated i n whi ch sati sfiers and economi c goods become subordinated once agai n to the actuali zati on of human needs. It i s in these sectors that we can fi nd exarnpl es of synergi c types of behavior which offer a potential response to the cri si s that looms over us. T hese autonomous processe s, whi ch are wel l worth studying and understandi ng, are di scussed i n Chapter 3.


29

Foundations for a Possible Syste matization Classification of Human Nee dsWe have emphasi zed that what we requi re i s a needs theory for development. T hi s poses the probl em of constructi ng a taxonomy of fundamental human needs whi ch may serve as an instrument for both pol i cy and acti on. Undoubtedl y, there are many ways i n whi ch needs may be cl assi fi ed. Hence, any categori zation must be regarded as provi sional and subj ect to modi fi cation as new evidence ari ses and call s for change s. For the purpo se s of devel opment, a mul ti -di mensi onal taxonomy whi ch establi shes a cl earcut di fference between needs and sati sfiers i s a useful and feasi bl e tool . Unfortunatel y, in formul ating such a classi fi cati on, we l ay oursel ves open to the charge of arbi trari ness. But, considering that the task i s absolutely necessary, we can minimi ze the ri sks i f we abide by the foll owi ng condi ti ons:

1. The classi ficati on must be understandabl e. The needs li sted 2.must be readil y recogni zabl e and i denti fi abl e as one's own. The cl assi fi cati on must combi ne scope wi th specifi city. It must arri ve at a limited number of needs whi ch can be cl earl y yet simpl y label ed but, at the same time, be comprehensi ve enough to incorporate any fundamental fel t need. The cl assi fi cati on must be operati onal . For every exi sting or concei vabl e sati sfi er, one or more of the needs stated must cap pear as a target-need of the sati sfi er; the cl assi fi cation should all ow for an anal ysi s of the relati onshi p between needs and the ways in whi ch they are sati sfied. The cl assi fi cation must be cri ti cal . It i s not suffi ci ent for the categorization to relate sati sfiers to needs. It i s essenti al to detect needs for whi ch no desi rabl e sati sfi er exi st s. Al so, i t i s to i denti fy and restrain those sati sfiers that i nhibi t the actuali zati on of needs. T he cl assi fi cation must be proposi tional. T o the extent that i t i s cri ti cal and capabl e of detecti ng i nadequaci es in the relati on between the exi sti ng sati sfiers and the ful fill ment

3.

4.

5.

of needs, cl assi fi cation shoul d serve as a tri gger mechani sm to work out

30

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t an al ternati ve order capable of generating and encouragi ng sati sfi ers for the needs of every man and woman as i ntegral bei ngs. It shoul d al so replace non-i nclusi ve sati sfi ers by others of a more comprehensi ve nature, thus attempti ng to actual i ze several needs.


31

si ble types of sati sfiers. ln fact, thi s matri x of sati sfiers, if compl eted by

The categori zation suggested represents one option. It i s rel ated to devel opment and we consider it operational for development. Nonethel ess, i t must be regarded as an open proposal on which improvements must be made.

Needs, Satisfiers and Economic GoodsWe have al ready stated that wi thin the context of our proposal , needs not onl y i ndi cate depri vati ons but al so, and at the same ti me, i ndi vidual and coll ecti ve human potenti al . On the other hand, sati sfi ers are i ndi vi dual or col lecti ve forms of Bei ng, Having, Doing and Interacti ng i n order to actuali ze needs. Fi nall y, economi c goods are objects or arti facts whi ch affect the effi ciency of a sati sfier, thus al tering the threshol d of actuali zati on of a need, ei ther in a posi ti ve or negati ve sense. A Matrix of Needs and Satisfiers. T he i nterrel ati onshi p between needs, sati sfi ers and economi c goods i s permanent and dynami c. A di alectic relationshi p exi sts among them. If economi c goods are capable of affecting the effi ci ency of the sati sfiers, the latter wil l be determi nant i n generating and creati ng the former. T hrough thi s reciprocal causa- ti on, they become both pan and defi ni ti on of a culture whi ch, i n turn, del imi ts the styl e of development. As T able 1 indi cates below on pages 32-33, sati sfiers can be organi zed wi thi n the grids of a matri x whi ch, on the one hand, cl assi fies needs accordi ng to the exi stential categori es of Bei ng, Havi ng, Doing and Interacti ng and, on the other hand, according to the axi ologi cal categories of Subsi stence, Protection, Affecti on, Understandi ng, Par- ti ci pati on, Idleness, Creati on, Identity and Freedom. T hi s matri x i s nei ther normati ve nor conclusi ve. It merel y gi ves an exampl e of pos-

i ndi vidual s or groups from di verse cul tures and in different hi stori cal moments, mi ght vary considerabl y. An exami nation of the different squares i n the matri x with thei r possi bl e sati sfiers demonstrates clearl y that many of the sati sfi ers can give ri se to di fferent economi c goods. If we take, for instance, square 15, showi ng different ways of Doi ng to actual i ze the need for Understandi ng on page 32, we see that i t i ncludes such sati sfi ers as i nvesti gating, studying, experimenti ng, educati ng, anal yzi ng, meditati ng and interpreting. These sati sfiers gi ve ri se to economi c goods, dependi ng on the culture and the resources, such as books, l aboratory instruments, tool s, computers and other arti facts. The function of these goods i s to empower the Doing of Understanding.

T hei r mai n attribute i s that they are generall y i nduced through propaganda, adverti si ng or other means of persuasion. (T able

3.)

Examples of Satisfie rs and The ir AttributesT he matri x presented i s onl y an example and in no way exhausts the number of possi ble sati sfiers. Because sati sfiers have various characteri sti cs, we suggest for anal yti cal purposes fi ve types that may be i denti fi ed, namel y: (a) viol ators or destroyers, (b) pseudo-sati sfiers, (c) i nhi biti ng sati sfiers, (d) si ngul ar sati sfi ers and (e) synergi c sati sfiers. (See T abl es 2 through 6.) Destroyers. Vi olators or destroyers are el ements of a paradoxi cal nature. When applied with the intenti on of sati sfying a gi ven need, not onl y do they annihi late the possi bili ty of i ts sati sfaction over ti me, but they al so i mpai r the adequate sati sfaction of other needs. T hese paradoxi cal sati sfi ers seem to be related parti cul arl y to the need for Protecti on. Thi s need may bring about aberrant human behavior to the extent that i ts non-sati sfaction i s associ ated wi th fear. T he special attribute of these vi olators i s that they are invariabl y imposed on people. (T able 2.) Pseudo -satisfiers. P seudo-sati sfi ers are el ements that generate a fal se sense of sati sfaction of a gi ven need. Although not endowed wi th them aggressi veness of vi olators or destroyers, they may on occasi on annul , i n the not too l ong term, the possi bil ity of sati sfyi ng the need they were origi nall y aimed at fulfilli ng.

32N eeds ac cording to ex is tential c ategories N eeds ac c ording to ax iologic al c ategories

Huma n Scale Devel opme n tTable 1: MATRIX OF NEEDS AND SATISFIERS*


33

BEING

HAVING

DOING

INTERACTING

Table 1 - c ontin uedN eeds ac cording to ex is tential c ategoric e N eeds . ac c ording to ax iologic al c ategories

SUBSISTENCE

1/ 2/ Phas ic al health, F o o d , mental health, r, wor k equilibrium, s ens e of hu mor , adaptabilit y

3/ 4/ s helte Fee d, pr oc re ate Living en viron ment, s oc ial s e , res t, wo rk - tting

BEING

HAVING

DOING

INTERACTING

IDENTITY

PROTECTION

AFFECTION

UNDERSTANDING

PARTICIPATIO

IDLENESS

CREATION

5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ ins uranc e s ys - Coope rate , p re - Living s p ac e, s o Care , ada pta tability, autonoma, tems , s a vings , vent , ptan, ta ke - c ial envi ronme c are of, c ure, help nt, dwelling e q u i ti b r i u m, s oc ial s ec s olidarit y urita, health s as t ems , r i gh ts , family, wor k 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ S e l f - e s t e e m , F r i e n d s h i p s , Ma ke lov e, Privac y, intimac s oli da ri t y , re- family, partn er - c ares s , e xp res s y, home, s pac e s pec t, tole ranc s hips , relatio

Max-Neef Human Scale Development

Documents

Transcript of Max-Neef Human Scale Development