This post has briefly presented the foundations of the Human Scale Development (HSD) approach put forward by the Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef and his collaborators. HSD distinguishes between basic human needs common to all mankind (Protection, Affection, Understanding, Participation, Leisure, Creation, Identity and Freedom) and the satisfiers of those needs, which are the context-dependent ways in which these needs can be realized. Needs and satisfiers are organized within a grid, an example of which can be seen here, where Leisure is indicated as Idleness. According to Max-Neef there are different types of satisfiers.
Violators or destroyers are applied (usually under a pretext) with the aim of actualising a need, but actually prevent, over time, the possibility of its fulfilment, and impair the actualisation of other needs. For example, authoritarianism supposedly satisfies the need for protection, but then it prevents actualising the need for affection, understanding, participation, creation, identity and freedom.
Pseudo satisfiers produce a false sense of satisfaction of a need, but later they impede the possibility of actualising that very same need. Examples of pseudo-satisfiers are the exploitation of natural resources and an obsessive productivity with a bias to efficiency, which in the long run (via ecological effects) compromise the possibility of subsistence. Even a seemingly good thing like charity is considered a pseudo-satisfier by Max-Neef, as it also can impede over time to satisfy the need for subsistence, if the communities are not helped to develop their own resources so as to ensure that they can thrive in the long term.
Inhibiting satisfiers generally over-satisfy a given need, thereby restricting the possibility of actualising other needs. Paternalism, for example, satisfies the need for protection, but obstructs the actualization of the needs for understanding, participation, freedom and identity.
Singular satisfiers fulfil one particular need and are neutral regarding the others, one case being a purely curative medicine with respect to the need for subsistence.
Synergic satisfiers, finally, realise a given need, while at the same time contributing to the fulfilment of others. One example is breast-feeding, that actualise the need for subsistence, but at the same time the needs for protection, affection and identity.
Max-Neef further distinguishes between exogenous satisfiers, generated outside a given community and often imposed, induced, ritualized or institutionalized, and endogenous satisfiers, generated by a community at the grassroot level, although sometimes originated by processes promoted by the state. Max-Neef clearly encourages the production, when possible, of endogenous satisfiers, but does not argue in favour of isolationism. We’ll examine this issue, and how satisfiers can be identified, in another post.
Several examples of each type of satisfier can be found in the 1991 book on HSD and are shown in the tables below. The examples are somewhat numerous, but I believe worth reading in detail. Max-Neef’s classification of satisfiers does not entail moral judgments, but it stimulates us to reflect on how basic human needs are met in our lives and communities. What is the proportion of destroyers, pseudo, inhibiting, singular and synergic satisfiers? Could we aspire for a better mix?
Violators or destroyers
| Supposed satisfier | Need to be supposedly satisfied | Needs the satisfaction of which it impairs |
| Arms race | Protection | Subsistence, Affection, Participation |
| Exile | Protection | Affection, Participation, Identity, Freedom |
| National security doctrine | Protection | Subsistence, Identity, Affection, Understanding, Participation, Freedom |
| Censorship | Protection | Understanding, Participation, Creation, identity, Freedom |
| Bureaucracy | Protection | Understanding, Affection, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
| Authoritarianism | Protection | Affection, Understanding, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
Pseudo-satisfiers
| Satisfier | Needs which it seemingly satisfies |
| Mechanistic medicine (“A pill for every ill”) | Protection |
| Exploitation of natural resources | Subsistence |
| Chauvinistic nationalism | Identity |
| Formal democracy | Participation |
| Stereotypes | Understanding |
| Aggregate economic indicators (e.g. the GDP) | Understanding |
| Cultural control | Creation |
| Prostitution | Affection |
| Status symbols | Identity |
| Obsessive productivity with a bias to efficiency | Subsistence |
| Indoctrination | Understanding |
| Charity | Subsistence |
| Fashions and fads | Identity |
Inhibiting satisfiers
| Satisfier | Need to be satisfied | Needs the satisfaction of which is inhibited |
| Paternalism | Protection | Understanding, Participation, Freedom, Identity |
| Overprotective family | Protection | Affection, Understanding, Participation, Identity, Freedom |
| Taylorist-type of production | Subsistence | Understanding, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
| Authoritarian classroom | Understanding | Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
| Unlimited permissiveness | Freedom | Protection, Affection, Identity, Participation |
| Obsessive economic competitiveness | Freedom | Subsistence, Protection, Affection, Participation, Leisure |
| Commercial television | Leisure | Understanding, Creation, Identity |
Singular satisfiers
| Satisfier | Need that is satisfies |
| Programs to provide food and housing | Subsistence |
| Curative medicine | Subsistence |
| Insurance systems | Protection |
| Professional armies | Protection |
| Ballots | Participation |
| Sport spectacles | Leisure |
| Nationality | Identity |
Synergic satisfiers
| Satisfier | Need | Needs the satisfaction of which it stimulates |
| Breast-feeding | Subsistence | Protection, Affection, Identity |
| Self-managed production | Subsistence | Understanding, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
| Popular education | Understanding | Protection, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
| Democratic community organizations | Participation | Protection, Affection, Leisure, Creation, Identity, Freedom |
| Barefoot medicine | Protection | Subsistence, Understanding, Participation |
| Barefoot banking | Protection | Subsistence, Participation, Creation, Freedom |
| Democratic trade unions | Protection | Understanding, Participation, Identity |
| Direct democracy | Participation | Protection, Understanding, Identity, Freedom |
| Educational games | Leisure | Understanding, Creation |
| Self-managed house building programs | Subsistence | Understanding, Participation |
| Preventive medicine | Protection | Understanding, Participation, Subsistence |
| Meditation | Understanding | Leisure, Creation, identity |
| Cultural television | Leisure | Understanding |
Inquisiquest 