Fundamental human needs

The taxonomy of the fundamental human needs, and the ways in which these needs can be satisfied is developed by Manfred Max-Neef. This taxonomy is based on his work on Human Scale Development, and was published for the first time in 1986. The taxonomy of the fundamental human needs, and the ways in which these needs can be satisfied is developed by Manfred Max-Neef. This taxonomy is based on his work on Human Scale Development, and was published for the first time in 1986. Human Scale Development is basically community development and is 'focused and based on the satisfaction of fundamental human needs, on the generation of growing levels of self-reliance, and on the construction of organic articulations of people with nature and technology, of global processes with local activity, of the personal with the social, of planning with autonomy and of civil society with the state. Human needs, self-reliance, and organic articulations are the pillars which support Human Scale Development.' Human Scale Development 'assumes a direct and participatory democracy. This form of democracy nurtures those conditions that will help to transform the traditional, semi-paternalistic role of the Latin American state into a role of encouraging creative solutions flowing from the bottom upwards. This is more consistent with the real expectations of the people.' For improving the living conditions of people in Latin America, the following 3 statements are taken as a starting point: A common shortcoming in existing literature and discussions about human needs is that the fundamental difference between needs and their satisfiers either is not made explicit or is completely overlooked. It may have to do with the difference between human needs and the conventional notion of economic 'wants' which are infinite and insatiable. Satisfiers may include forms of organization, political structures, social practices, values and norms, spaces, types of behavior and attitudes. For example, a house can be a satisfier of the need for protection, but a family structure as well. Also one cannot say that a need is 'satisfied' or not. It is better to say that needs are satisfied to a greater or lesser extent. We can even say that one of the aspects that determine a culture is the choice of the satisfiers of the fundamental human needs. In short: culturally determined are not the basic human needs, but the satisfiers of those needs. Cultural change is, among other things, a consequence of the dropping of traditional satisfiers and the adoption of new or different satisfiers.