The Human Scale Development framework has always served as a reference point for me when trying to envision a more just and equitable society. It will continue to provide the backdrop for future articles, including some of those focusing on Artificial Intelligence. In these final four posts I aim to complete this concise overview on HSD.

HSD was developed by Max-Neef in the 1980s as a response to his critiques of neoliberal policies prevalent in Latin America, as well as of limitations of existing political systems. His insights on the disparity between efficiency and synergy, however, still hold relevance today and are the topic of this post.

According to Max-Neef development requires a change in the prevailing economic rationale and a critical revision of the concept of efficiency. The conventional notion of efficiency, focused on productivity and profits, is theoretically aimed to satisfy the need for subsistence, but may sacrifice other needs and ultimately threaten subsistence itself. Development discourses, even today, frequently associate efficiency with the conversion of labour into capital, the formalization of economic activities, the (often uncritical) absorption of the newest technologies and, of course the maximization of growth rates.

The goal of emulating everywhere the material living standards of industrialized countries may not make sense as it does not demonstrably address human needs in an integrated manner or solve alienation problems. Fundamental human needs, as in the HSD approach, should be integral to the development process, rather than just end goals. In this way the realization of needs becomes the motor of development itself, provided the development strategy is capable of stimulating the generation of synergic satisfiers. Integrating the harmonious realization of human needs into development can lead to a self-reliant and participative development that reconciles economic growth, solidarity, and personal growth. A development approach that combines synergy with efficiency may not fully achieve desired outcomes, but it can demonstrate that undesired ones are not always unavoidable.