Max-Neef Human Scale Development

HUMAN SCALE DEVELOPMENT
CONCEPTION, APPLICATION AND FURTHER REFLECTI ONS
Manfred A. Max-Neef
With contributi ons fromAntoni o E l i z a l d e Martin Hopenhayn Foreword by Sven Hamrell
Dag 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
CONTENTS
Forew 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
FOREWORD
T 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, endogenous,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 CONTRIBUTORS

Manfred 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 Utopias

Nowadays, 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 combinati 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 struggle 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
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
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 nt

Thi 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 upwards. 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
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 interests 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 empowering 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
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 spensabl 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 Propositions

Development 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 s

The 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.
Summary
T he main concl usions we can raw are:
1. Any fundamental human need not adequatel y sati sfi ed

generates a pathology.
2. Up to the present we have developed treatments for indi vidual

and 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 Potential

A 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 appears 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 Society

If 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 Subjectivity

To 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 Rhythms

Owi 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 of
n
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 ds

We 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 Goods

We 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 causati 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 Attributes

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

Table 1: MATRIX OF NEEDS AND SATISFIERS*
33
BEING
HAVING
DOING
INTERACTING
Table 1 - c ontin ued

N 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 , relation - emotions , s ha re , of togethe rnes s s hips with na tur Cak e c ar e of , c ut e, gener os ita, e - tivat e, ap prec ia rete c eptiven es s , pas - s ion, dete rmina tion, s ens uality, s ens e of hu mor 13/ 15/ 16/ 14/ C r it ic a l c on- L i t e r a t u r e investigate , Settings of fo rma s c ienc e, rec ep - , s tudy, expe ri- tive interac tio n, teac hers , met ment, e duc ate , s c hools , tivenes s ,c u rio unive h- s ity, as t onis anala ze, r- s ities , ac h- ment, dis od, educ a tional meditate ademies , groups , c omc c ipline, intuition, p o lic i es , ration ality ommunic ation munities , fa mily poli - c ies 18/ 19/ 17/ 20/ af- Settings of pa rA d a p t a b i l i t Rights , res pon - Bec ome tic ipative i nte rac a , rec epti venes s s ibilities , duties f ili at ed , c , privile ges , w or oop- erate , p tion, parties , as , k ropos e , - s oc iations , c hur s olidarita , s hare, dis s ent, witlingobea, i nt e ra c t c hes , c ommun nes s , dete rmina , i ti es , neighbo - tion, dedic agree on, exp res s r- hoods , f amily ation, res pec t, 21/ 22/ 23/ 24/ Privac y, intimac Curios it a, rec ep G am es , s pec - D a y d r e a m , - tivenes s , im- tac les , clubs , brood , d ream, y, s pac es of c los agination, rec k - parti es, peac e rec alI old times e- nes s , fr ee time tes s nes s , s ens of , , e of humo r, tr an- mind give waa to f an- s u r r o u n d i n g quility, s e ns ualit tas ies , re mem- s , lands c apes . y ber, rela x, ha ve fun, pla y 25/ 26/ 27/ 28/ Pas s ion, dete r - Abilities , s kilis Wor k, i n v en t Produc ti ve and mination, intui- , method, wo r k , b uil d , d es ig feedbac k s et tings tion, n, c ompos e, inte , wor ks hops , c ulimagination r - pret lural g roups , audi , - enc es , s pac es boldnos s , ration fo r exp res s ion, ality, autonom y, tem- poral fre edom
FREEDOM
29/ 30/ 31/ 32/ Sens e of b elong - Symbois , lan- Commit o nes elf, Soc iat rh yt hms , ing, c ons is tenc guage, religion, integr ate o nes eve r yda y s et tings y, d if fe r en tia ti habits , c us toms , elf, c onfron t, d ec , s ettings whic h on , referenc e groups , ide on, ge t to kn one belongs to , mat u- ration s s elf-es teem , as s exualit y, valu es ow ones elf, rec - s erti venes s , og - nize o nes etf , tages norms , his toric ac al memor y, wo r k tualize ones elf, grow 33/ 34/ 35/ 36/ Equal rig hts Dis s ent, c hoos e T emporal/s pa tial Autonom a, s elf , be diffe ren t f plas tic ity es teem, d ete rrom, run ris ks , mination, pas de velop s ion, as s erti venes s , awar enes s , c om - mit ones elf, dis openmin - dednes o- bey s , bold nes s , rebellious - nes s , tole ranc e
'T he c olumn of BElNG regis ters attributes pers onat or c ollec tive, that are expres ed as nouns . T ho c olumn of HAVING regis ters ins titutions , norms , mec hanis ms , tools (not in a materiat s ens o), laws , etc . that c an be expres s ed in one or more words . T he c olumn of DOlNG regis ters ac tions , pers onal or c ollective, that c an be express ed as verbs . T he c olumn of INT ERACT ING regis ters loc ations and milieus (as times and s pac es ). ht s tands for the Spanish ESTAR or the German BEFINDEN, in rho s ens e of time and s pac e. Sinc e there is no c orres ponding word in English, INT ERACT ING was c hoson faut de mieux .
Table 2: VIOLATORS OR DESTROYERS*

Supposed Sattsfier Arms rac e Exile National Sec urity Doc trine Cens ors hip Bureauc rac y Authoritarianis m Need to Be Sup posedh y Satisfied Protec tion Protec tion Protec tion Protec tion Protec tion Protec tion Needs, the Satistactton of Which it im pairs Subs is tenc e, Affec tion, Partic ipation Affec tion, Partic ipation, Identity, Freedom Subsis tenc e, Identity, Affec tion, Unders tanding, Participation, Freedom Unders tanding, Partic ipation, Mimos a, Creation, identity, Freedom Unders tanding, Affec tion, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom Affec tion, Unders tanding, Participarton, Creation, Identity, Freedom
* Violators or des truc tors are elements of a paradoxic al effec t. Applied undor the pretext of s atis fying a given need, they not only annihilate the poss ibility of its s atis fac tion, but als o render the adequate s atis fac tion of other needs impos sible. T hey s eem to be es pec ially related to the need for protec tion.
34
Huma n Scale Devel opme n t Inhibiting Satisf iers. Inhibiting satisfiers are those that generally oversatis fy a given need, therefo re seriously curtailing the possibility of satisfying other needs. With some exceptions, they share the attribute o f originating in deep-rooted customs, habits and rituals. (T able 4.) Singular Satisf iers. Singular satisfiers are those that satis fy one par ticular need. In regard to the satisfaction of other needs, they are neutral. T hey ar e char acteristic o f plan and progr ams o f assistance, cooper ation and development. T hese satisfiers ar e similar in that they are i nsti tutionali zed; that is, their origins are in institutions of the state, of the private sector or o f the voluntary or non-governmental sector. (T able 5.) Synergic Satisfiers. Synergi c sati sfiers are those that sati sfy a gi ven need, simul taneousl y stimulati ng and contri buting to the ful fil lment of other needs. T hey share the attri bute of bei ng anti - authori tarian in the sense that they constitute a reversal of predominant val ues, such as competi ti on and coerci veness. (T abl e 6.) Exogenous and Endogenous Satisfiers. The fi rst four categories of sati sfiers are exogenous to ci vi l society as they are usual ly i mposed, induced, ri tuali zed or i nsti tuti onali zed. In thi s sense, they are sati sfi ers whi ch have been traditional l y generated at the fop and advocated for all . On the other hand, endogenous sati sfi ers deri ve from l iberating processe s whi ch are the outcome of acts of voli ti on generated by the communi ty at the grassroots l evel. It i s thi s that makes them antiauthori tarian, even though i n some cases they may origi nate i n processes promoted by the state. One of the important ai ms of Human Scal e Development i s to affect change i n the nature of the Lati n Ameri can State. It shoul d move from i ts traditional rol e as a generator of sati sfi ers, whi ch are exogenous to ci vil society, to a stimulator and creator of processes ari sing from the bottom upwards. Parti cul arl y, gi ven the
35
Table 3: PSEUDO-SATISFIERS*
Satisfier Need Which It Seemingt y Satisftes
Mec hanistic medicine ("A pill for every ill") Exploitation of natural res ources Chauvinis tic nationalis m Format democ rac y Stereotypes Aggregate ec onomic indicators Cultural control Pros titution Status s ymbols Obs ess ive produc tivity with a bias to effic ienc y Indoc trination Charity Fas hions and fads
Protec tion Subsis tenc e Identity Partic ipation Unders tanding Unders tanding Creation Affec tion Identity Subsis tenc e Unders tanding Subsis tenc e identity
tremendousl y restri cti ve conditions whi ch the current cri si s imposes on us, an increase in the level s o f l ocal , regi onal and national Sel f-reli ance should deemed a pri ori ty. T hi s obj ecti ve can be met through the generation of synergi c processe s at all
*Ps eudo-s atisfiers are elements that s timulate a fals e sens ation of s atis fying a given need. Although they lac k the aggres siveness of violators , they may on oc c as ion annul in the medium term the pos - s ibility of s atis fying the need they were originally aimed at.
Table 4: INHIBITING SATISFIERS*

Satisfier ted Need Needs, the Satisfaction o f Which te Inhibi
Paternalis m Identity, Freedom Unders tanding, Partic ipation, Creation, tion Overprotec tive family
Protec tion Protec tion
T aylorist-type of Identity, produc Freedom Authoritarian c las s room Freedom
Subs is tenc e
Unders tanding, Partic ipation, Freedotli, Ic hnitity Affec tion, Unders tanding, Participatton, Idtenenn,
Unders tanding
Participation,
Creation,
Identity,
Mes s ianis m Identity ipatIon, (Millenniatis m) Unlimited permis siveness Freedom Participation Obs es sive ec onomic tion, c ompetitiveness Commerc ial tetevision Identity Freedom Leis ure
Protec tion, Unders tanding, Partic Freedom Protec tion, Affection, Identity, Subs is tente, Protec tion, Affec Participation, idleness Unders tanding, Creation,
* Inhibiting s atis fiers are thos e that by the way they s atis fy (ac tually overs atis fy) a given need serious - ly impair the poss ibility of s atis fying other needs .
36

Table 5: SINGULAR SATISFIERS*

Subsistence Meditation Understanding Leis ure Leisure, Creation, identity Understanding
37
Sati sfi er atisfies

Programs to provide food and housing Curative medicine Insurance systems Professionat armies Battot Participation Sports spectactes Nationatity Guided tours Gifts
Need
that
It
Cultural tetevision
Subsistence Subsistence Protection Protection
*Synergic satisfiers are those that by the way they satisfy a given need, stimulate and contribute to the simultaneous satisfaction of other needs.
Leisure Identity Leisure Affection
*Singutar satisfiers are those that aim at the satisfaction of a single need and are, therefore, neutral as regards the satisfaction of other needs. They are very characteristic of development and cooperation schemes and programs.
Table 6: SYNERGIC SATISFIERS*

Sati sfi er Need Needs, the Sati sfaction of W hich it Stimulates
Protection, Affection,
Breast-feeding Identity Setf-managed production Poputar education Democratic community Creation, organizations Freedom Barefoot medicine Barefoot banking Identity Direct democracy Freedom Educational games Creation
Subsistence Subsistence Understanding Participation
Understanding, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom Protection, Participation, Creation, Identity, Freedom Protection, Affection, Leisure, Identity,
Protection Protection
Subsistence, Understanding, Participation Subsistence, Participation, Creation, Protection Protection, Understanding, Understanding, Understanding, Participation, Understanding, Participation, Understanding, Identity,
Freedom Democratic trade unions Participation Leisure
Self-managed houseSubsistence Participation buitding programs Preventive medicine Protection
l evel s of soci ety. Chapter 3 of thi s book i s concerned with how such processe s can be unleashed. The fact that several of the sati sfiers offered as exampl es do not appear i n the matri x i s due to the fact that the tabl es are more speci fi c. It must be borne i n mi nd that the matri x i s merel y i llustrati ve and not normati ve.
Applications of the Matrix

T he schema proposed can be used for purposes of di agnosi s, planni ng, assessment and eval uation. The matri x of needs and sati sfiers may serve, at a preli mi nary stage, as a parti cipati ve exerci se of sel f-di agnosi s for groups l ocated wi thin a l ocal space. Through a process of regul ar di aloguepreferably wi th the presence of a facili tator acting as a catal yzi ng el ementthe group may graduall y begi n to characteri ze i tsel f by filli ng i n the corresponding squares. The outcome of the exerci se will enable the group to become aware of both i ts depri vati ons and potentiali ti es. After di agnosi ng i ts current reali ty, i t may repeat the exerci se i n proposi ti onal terms: that i s, i denti fying whi ch sati sfiers woul d be requi red to ful ly meet the fundamental needs of the group. As the sati sfi ers are sel ected wi th i ncreasi ng l evel s of speci fi ci ty, they should be di scussed cri ti call y by the group i n terms of thei r characteri sti cs and attri butes, in order to determi ne i f they areor should be generated exogenousl y or endogenousl y by the community itsel f. Such an anal ysi s wi ll demonstrate the potential capaci ty for l ocal self-reli ance. T he same anal ysi s of proposed sali sfienrs will enabl e the group to asse ss not onl y whether thei r posi ti ve effects are si ngular or synergi c, but al so whether the negati ve effects are vi ol ators, i nhi bi ting sati sfiers or pseudo-sati sfi ers. T he next stage of reflecti on of the group i s to determine whether access exi st s to thc necessary economi c goods and materi al resources. T he proposed exerci se has a twofol d val ue. Fi rst, it makes i t possi ble to identi fy at a l ocal l evel a strategy for development aimed at the actuali zation of human needs. Second, i t i s an educational, creati ve and parti cipatory exerci se that bri ngs about a state of deep cri ti cal awareness: that i s to Say, the method i s i n i tsel f a generator of synergi c effects. (More about thi s in the foll owi ng section.)
38
T he techni que descri bed i s not restri cted onl y to an anal ysi s of l ocal spaces. It i s l i ke wi se appl i cabl e at regi onal and nati onal l evel s. In l ocal space s, i t can be a b road-ba sed parti ci pati on proce ss whe re tho se rep re senti ng the i ntere st of the economi c, pol i ti cal and soci al domai ns of the community may express thei r i deas. At a regi onal l evel !, the exerci se shoul d be undertaken by a careful l y cho sen te am that n ot onl y re pre sen t s t he di ffe ren t domai n s of end eavor, but al so by vi rtue of i t s repre sentati ve nature combi ne s both publ i c and pri vate i nterest s. At the nati onal l evel , i t i s e ssenti al that the task shoul d be approached i n a transdi sci pl i nary manne r becau se of the complexi ty of the i ssues. A r ticu la ti n g an d Re gai ni n g D iv ersi ty. In thi s w ay , an al t ernati ve process movi ng from the l ocal to the regi onal and to the nati onalmake s i t i mpe rati ve to d evel o p sui t abl e met hodol ogi e s w hi ch al l o w u s to reconci l e harmoni ousl y the vi ew s, expe ctati on s and propo sal s a ri si ng from the di fferent spa ce s. In the thi rd pa rt of thi s boo k, p ropo sal s a re made to thi s end. D e vel opmen t gea red to t he sati sfa cti on o f fun dament al huma n needs cannot, by defi ni ti on, be st ruc tured f rom the top downwa rd s. It c a nnot be i mpo sed ei the r b y l aw o r b y d ec ree . I t can onl y emana te di rectl y from the acti on s, e xpectati on s and creati ve and c ri ti cal aware ness of the p rotagoni st s them sel ve s. Instead of bei ng the tradi ti onal obj ect s of devel opment, peopl e must ta ke a l eadi ng rol e i n devel opment. T he anti -authori tari an nature o f Human Scal e Devel opment doe s not i nvol ve maki ng the confli ct between state and ci vil soci ety more acute. On the contrary, i t attempts to prove, through the method proposed, that the state can a ssume a rol e whi ch encourage s synergi c proce sse s at the l ocal , regi onal and nati onal l evel s. We beli eve that regai ni ng di versi ty i s the best way to encourage the creati ve and synergi c potenti al whi ch exi st s i n every soci ety. T herefore, i t seems advi sabl e and consi stent to accept the coexi stence of di fferent st yl es of regi onal devel opment wi thi n the same country, i n stead of i nsi sti ng that "na ti onal styl e s" sh oul d pre vai l , when the se hav e so f ar proved to be i nst rumental i n i ncreasi ng the affl uence of some regi on s at the expense of the i mpoveri shment of othe rs. T hese nati onal
Development and Human Needs 39 styl e s are concei ved mostl y in order of strengthen or preserve nati onal
We shoul d not bli nd oursel ve s, however, to the fact that uni ty does not mean uni formi ty. T here may exi st a sounde r foundati on for real uni ty when a weal th of cul tural potenti al ari ses freel y and creati vel y, nurtured by op po rtuni ti e s, th e t ec hni cal ba c k-up and t he supp o rt f o r thei r development.
el enment s (sa ti sfi ers) affecti ng thei r soci ety that i s, all those "destroyers" that i mpede the
A Note Methodology
on
The Effort to Unde rstand

Si n ce the p ubl i cati on i n 1986 of the Spani sh ve rsi on of H u man Scal e Devel op ment, con si de rabl e e xpe ri ence ha s been accumul ated about the uti l i zati on of the matri x of needs and sa ti sfi ers (outl i ned the precedi ng secti on ) for anal yti cal purpo se s, wi th di verse g roup s i n di fferent countri e s. T he methodol ogy devel oped so fa r ha s shown that i t al l ows for the achi evement of i n- depth i nsi ght into key probl ems that i mpede the a ctual i zati on of fundamental human needs i n the soci et y, communi ty or i nsti tuti on bei ng studi ed. Starti ng f rom the a ssumpti on the author ha s devel oped el se where (see Chapter 5, About the Pruni ng of Language), i t can be sai d that we kno w how to de scri be, and that we have l earned to expl ai n. Ho weve r, what we often overlook i s the fact that descri bi ng and explai ni ng do not amount to unde rstan di ng. T he metho dol ogy de vel oped so fa r may probabl y al low for that additional step i nto greater awareness. For a si mpl e yet comprehen si ve pre sentati on of the methodol ogy, we shal l fol l ow the step s of an i magi nary two -day workshop at tended by fi ft y peopl e. T he purpo se of the exe rci se i s to al l ow parti ci pant s to refl ect on the real i ty of thei r soci ety at l arge in the li ght of Human Scal e Devel opment theory, in order to desi gn ways of overcoming or coping with the most i mportant probl ems detected. Phase One . T he group i s di vi ded i nto fi ve sub-g roup s of x ten peopl e. (E peri ence has shown that ten seems to be an optima! si ze for the purpose. ) T he propo sed ta sk fo r each g roup i s to con st ruct the matri x contai ni ngthe dest ructi ve
40
41
actuali zati on of the fundamental human needs. For the purpose, all groups recei ve thi rty-si x self-adhesi ve pads, numbered from 1 to 36, each representi ng a blank grid of the matri x to be fi lled i n. Phase T wo. For the fi rst two hours, the groups are requested to concentrate on fill ing i n the grids corresponding to the col umn of Bei ng; that i s, grids 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29 and 33. Each point entered in the gri d must be the resul t of group di scussi on. It i s stre ssed by the semi - nar coordinator that the col umn headed Bei ng regi sters attributes, personal or coll ecti ve (negati ve, i n thi s case), that are expressed as nouns. For example, i n gri d 17, Parti ci pation, negati ve elements coul d be: authoritari ani sm, di scri mination, indi fference, etc. Once the two hours are completed, all pads are coll ected and pi nned on the wall , thus representing fi ve columns of Bei ng, at a suffi ci ent di stance from one another to allow space for the other three columns to be produced i n order to complete fi ve matri xes. The next two hours are devoted to filli ng i n the grids of the column Havi ng. Parti ci pants are remi nded that the col umn Havi ng regi stered i nsti tuti ons, norms, mechani sms, tool s (not in a materi al sense), l aws, etc. that can be expressed i n one or more words. Agai n, examples that have shown up are: national securi ty doctrine, repressi ve i nsti tuti ons, di scrimi natory education l aws and so on. Once the time i s compl eted, the pads are again col lected and pl aced on the wall next to each of the correspondi ng previous fi ve columns. A break of three hours i s taken, and the parti cipants gather again i n the afternoon. A long break i s important because, if properly carried out, the exerci se i s very intense and demandi ng. T he next two hours are devoted i n an analogous manner to the column Doi ng. It i s stre ssed that the column Doing regi sters acti ons, personal or coll ecti ve, that are expressed as verbs. As a mere ill ustrati on, examples could be di scri minate, oppress, i mpose, censure. Duri ng the fi nal two hours, the col umn Interacting must be completed. It i s explai ned to the parti ci pants that Interacting refers to l ocati ons or mi l ieus in the sense of ti mes and spaces. T he day fini shes wi th fi ve negati ve matri xes of destruction pl aced on the wall .
Phase Three. Duri ng the evening, a group of vol unteers i s requested to consoli date the fi ve matri xes into one. T he practi cal way of doing thi s i s to take all fi ve number 1 grids, eli minate all repetitions and synonyms and produce onl y one gri d representati ve of the whol e. The same i s done with all the other gri ds until a singl e matri x i s produced, representi ng the perceptions of all fi fty parti cipants. T he matri x i s drawn on a l arge chart (say, 120 by 80 cms) and placed on the wall so that on the foll owing morning it can be exami ned by the parti ci pants. Phase Four. In the next sessi on, the parti ci pants are di vi ded into nine groups; one for each fundamental human need. The matri x i s cut with sci ssors i nto nine stri ps so that each group recei ves one part. It shoul d be cl ear that each strip represents one need wi th i ts four grids fill ed i n wi th the negati ve sati sfi ers. The group i s asked to start a di scussi on i n order to select from each' of the four gri ds the one el ement they consi der to be the most important and deci si ve. In other words, that destroyer must be sel ected that carri es the greatest wei ght in the l ot. In excepti onal cases, two can be sel ected from a gri d. T he sel ection must i n each case be a consensus reached through debate and di scussi on. Thi s phase should take as l ong as i t requi res. Phase Five. Each group deli vers the li st of the four to eight negative sati sfiers selected. The li st i s now written into a new bl ank matri x, will be identi fied as the synthesi s matri x. It represents the pi cture of the most negati ve el ements affecti ng that soci ety, community or insti tution (as percei ved by the parti cipants) inasmuch as the actual ization of fundamental human needs i s concerned. It represents the paramount chall enges that must be tackl ed. Therefore, the di scussi on and i nterpretati on of the synthesi s matri x must be carri ed out i n a pl enary sessi on. Phase Six. If time allows, or i f the coordinator i s able to establi sh a l ong- term rel ati onship wi th the parti cipants, an additional exerci se i s hi ghl y advi sabl e. Employi ng exactl y the same procedure as for the constructi on of the negati ve matri x, the parti ci pants are asked to produce the ma t ri x of t hei r Uto pi a; that i s, of h o w Hui r soci e ty ough t to be f o r them to f ee! re al l y sati sfi ed . When c a rryi ng out thi s pa rt of the ex erci
se, the negati ve matri x shoul d not be i n the hands of the parti ci pants, si nce
42
43
they mi ght simpl y be tempted to fi n in the new one j ust wi th the opposi tes of the earl ier one. Phase Seven. Once the second exerci se i s completed, the parti ci pants are confronted in a pl enary sessi on wi th both synthesi s matri xes: the negati ve and the posi ti ve. What foll ows i s a di scussi on about the bri dgi ng from one to the other. Here agai n small groups can be organi zed, the i dea bei ng a sort of game where the wi nning group fi nds the most synergi c "bridgi ng" sati sfi ers. In fact, the di scussi on wi ll inevi tabl y consi st of sel ecting sati sfi ers. Hence, each one that i s proposed or suggested must be joi ntl y anal yzed in order to establi sh i ts characteri sti cs. Is i t endogenous or must it come from outsi de the communi ty? Is i t si ngul ar, l i near or syne rgi c? Such a parti ci patory di scu ssi on can turn out to be ri ch and sti mul ati ng and in itsel f represents an experi ence with synergeti c effects.
i n Col ombi an society, but the deep underl yi ng problem, as revealed by the li st, was deemed to be Fear. Whether that fear i s the resul t of vi ol ence or i ts cause (or both) i s di ffi cul t
The Ne w Aware ne ss
Earl y in 1987, a seminar li ke the one descri bed was carried out i n Bogot, Col ombi a, with fifty high-ranki ng uni versi ty offi cial s and academi cs from al l over the country as parti cipants. After reflecti ng on the destru cti ve el ement s affe cti ng Col ombi ansoci ety , and goi ng through the successi ve phases previousl y descri bed, they sel ected from the matri x of synthesi s the fol lowi ng li st of components as the most si g- ni fi cant: Aggressi veness, Indi fference, Obedience, Censorshi p, Accep- t an ce, A pat hy , D epen den ce , Al i ena ti on , Ne ut ral i ty (i n te rnal ), Uprooti ng, Ideologi cal mani pulati on and Repressi ve i nsti tuti ons. T hi s l i st determined the fol lowing anal ysi s and concl usi ons. If one asks for a descri ption of Colombian society, the repl y may well gi ve an i mage of a society sufferi ng from a hi gh degree of viol ence. If one asks for expl anati ons, one may be gi ven a profi le of all the di fferent groups that are i n confli ct and, hence, determi ne that violence. But, if we l ook at the above li st, whi ch i s the product of an intense process of introspecti ve anal ysi s, we percei ve somethi ng qui te interesti ng and probabl y unexpected. T here i s vi ol encea great deal of vi ol ence
perhaps impossi ble to say. But in any case, what appears to be probable, i s that the "di sease' the pati ent i s sufferi ng from i s fear. T herefore, if the remedies prescri bed concentrate excl usi vel y on the attempt to cure viol ence, one may be appl yi ng an inadequate or i n- complete prescri pti on for the wrong "di sease." The resul t may be that the patient gets worse. T he final asse ssment of the parti cipants was that the methodol ogy regardl ess of whether i t did or di d not reveal new truths - al l owed for the di sco ve ry of unexpec ted facet s of a probl em, thu s i ncreasi ng awareness about what was relevant.
Further Examples
Since the Col ombian experi ence, many addi ti onal semi nars have been carried out both i n Northern as wel l as in Thi rd Worl d countries. Al though much more work has to be completed i n order to confine some probabl e tendenci es, it i s al ready clear that unsuspected yet si gni fi cant findi ngs wil l come to l ight. One of the most i nteresting ma y be the fact that no correlati on seems to exi st between achieved l evel s of economi c growth and rel ati ve happiness of the peopl e concerned. The other aspect that comes i nto light i s the poverties (as defined in Human Scale Development theory) that exi st in every soci ety. Wi thout going into any anal ysi s, the exampl es that foll ow are qui te dramati c i n themsel ves. T abl e 7 (pages 44-46) i s the consolidated negati ve matri x representi ng Bri ti sh soci ety, a s i nterpreted by a group of some forty soci al l y concerned business people and acti vi sts. It can easi l y be seen through the sheer quantity of el ements i ncluded grid tha t the e xe rci se sti mul ate s pa rti ci pant s to ove rc ome an y form of modesty or shyness. In fact, our observati ons have shown that at Some point during the exerci se, the urge to unearth trul y and honestly (no matter how painful i t may be) what i s ai ling i n one's soci ety i s highl y testi fi ed. T abl e 8 (page 47) i s the synthesi s matri x of the previ ous one, and shows, to say the feast, a soci ety that fans to communi cate T abl e 9 (page 48) i s the synthesi s matri x of an experience wi th parti ci p ant s si mi l a r to th o se i n the B ri ti sh e xampl e , bu t rep re se nti ng the S w edi sh S oci et y Lo o ki n g a t i t , o ne so o n g et s t he fee l i ng th at o ne i s facing a society of l onel y peopl e.
44

Table 7: CONSOLIDATED NEGATIVE MATRIX (GREAT BRITAIN)
INTERACTING BEING HAVING DOING Dis harmo ny with S e l f i s h n e s s Maln ouris hm P oll u te , s te at , degra de, s pec u natur e, g ree n, w a s te f ul ne s ent, homeles s hous eeffec t ,po - late, mon opoli nes s , s, d is c o nn ec t ed - i ll -h e alt h , un- ze, adve rtis e, c llution, hous in g nes s , imbalanc e m p l o y m e n t , los e off, ign ore , develo pments , e, addic tive nes s moneta ris m, o ve o ve r- eat, g rab , c onges tion,s eparation - rpr oduc tion , pol tal k t o avoid , from the la nd, doing, s elf-indulge nc e, - lution, ec on omic ins atiability, pas - polic y, inequalit h o a rd in g, dis - des truc tio n of y, c o ns u me r is mc riminate in trade, wildlife habitat, s ivity, ac quis degraded environ , uns us tainabilit y,adulte rate food itive- nes s , ment, o ve rpla ngreed, ego- tis m, c entralization, hytural des igns , s ys c onfus ion, anxiet peru rbani za tion - temic was te y , s tres s , health p olic y, s o reg res s ion, d e- c ial acc eptanc e pendenc e, pow - of inequalit y Fea r,nati onalis m, T otalitarianis m, Des tro y, pois Milita r y bas es , degradation of h os tili t y , par - a r m a me n ti s m on, exploit , abs anoia, s ec reti ve- , Offic ial the envi ronme nt, Sec ol ve nes s , pos s es - rets Ac t, Cens o r e s p on s i bil it y ,undes tro y other s s afe s tr eets , s ivenes s , rep res rs hip, - s ion,s elf-des t n a t i o n a l i s m pec ies , dis lo- unruc , p r o f itee ring c ate, impos e, s ale trans po rt , tivenes s , agg res bu r e a u c r a c y c ontrol, dic tate badly des igned hous ing, s pa - s ivenes s , p ac , arm y, prope rt , er - nalis m, s y "c ur ati vo medi f ig ht , arming, tial d is c ri mi n at io n elfis h- nes s , dange rous d riunpre - c ine," hous ing ving, pollute , neg -, ove rc ro wding, dic tability, dog- polic y an d ma r- lec t, o ver pro tec t balanc ed de momatis m, dep end - ket, s oc ial acc epgraphic dis tribu en c y, rac is m, tanc e of viole nc tion, lac k o f s ec ure c omm elitis m, intro ve e, dis c rimination, prejudic e, v anon s pac es , r- s ion, urbani zati on alienation, s u bs e dalis m r v i en c e , greed , indiffer - enc e, c ompe ti- tivenes s , v ulner R a t i o n a l i t y , Educ ation s ys - Separa te, is olat e, Is olation in c rowdc ynic is m, s upe tem, o rgani za neglec t, dom- ednes s , los s of per r- fic iality, fear, tion, medi a, fa mi- inate, des tro y, feeling manenc e, des ign nar- c is s is m, ly brea kdo wn, take fo r g rant aggres - s ivenes gener ation gap, ed, abus e, rus h, problems , o ver p o r n o g r a p h y in - hibit, morali c rowde d s c hed s , jeal ze, put a pric e o ous y, ov erp ro tec, ules , vis ual s exis m, p ros titu -n tivenes s , aliena - tion, turning affec - things , trade in af- pollution, tion, pos s es s iv tion finto a c om - fec tion, d ev alue, ove rc row ding, e- nes s , Englis modity , c omme r - fail to c omm uni- s patial pa ranoia, break-up o f family h- nes s , ins ec c ialization, break- c ate envi ronment urit y, permis s ive up of ex tende d , warp ed time pri nes s , family, c omme r- orities , c limate, p r o m i s c u i t y , c i al i za ti on of lac k of time, lonelines s , dis c aring, autom alac k of - trus t, inhibition, tion, c ompu te riqualitati ve s pac e res er ve s hy nes zation s, arr oganc e,

BEING UNDERSTANDING HAVING DOING
45
INTERACTING
SUBSISTENCE
PROTECTION
PARTICIPATION
AFFECTION
Bigotr y, s ec re- P r e s s / m ed i a , I n te hlec tu ali z e, Dis tanc ing f rom tivenes s , "c educ ation s ys - manipulate, o ve r- Natu re, e duc lever- nes s ," u tem,ac hie veme nt plan, c omplic ate , ation s truc tu res nrec e p- tivenes s orient ation, politi- o v e r s i m p l i f y re, apat hy , c al dogmatis m, , ove remp has ize move d f rom e nprejudic e, willful g a i al es s n es s tec hnolog y, viro nment , fas t ignoranc e , fe ar , s pec ialization, abdi- c ate, de pac e of c ha nge, i ns ul a ri t y, the Ch urc h, T valu e in- tuitive s peed of info rma re- s erv e, s en nes s , detion and ac tivi ty etfis hhibits integr Command ments , pers onali ze, mis in nes s , e li tis m B r itis h ins titu- - inform, us e jar ation, , c ompetiti venes tions , s elf-c ens - gon, c on fus o, d inc ompatibility of s , x e n o p h o b i or- s hip, c ondition e- value ones elf, language s ys tems a, - ing, p rejudic e, filwithin the s oc ial g o a l -c e n t r e in - forma tion o ve t e ri ng , getting envi ronme nt dre mot i on aII nes s , ins ec urit load, do gmatis m y flooded, s entiy, greed , dis mentalize, ignore, trus t, ac t witho ut c om Inhibition, is ola- III- health, Britis h Divide, not tol - Elitis t c lubs , ove tion, s nobbis h- elec toral s ys tem erate , e xc lude, r- profes s nes s , c oerc ion , , c las s s ys tem, withdr aw, c ens or ionalization apath y, egois m, c entrali zed go , impos e pa rtic of s po rts , uns a ipation, c onc eal, fe trans po rt , lac f a c e les s n es s v, lazines s , d os ernme nt, rep re - c olk ef ed- mindednes s , s entati ve dom o- l ud e , dec eive, c ommunal s pac es dis - agreement, c rac y, foo d aid, p a t r on i z e, , s patial dis c emo- tionality , monopolios , s ec - repres s the rimination,p riva ret s oc ieties , vote, ration teow ner alis m, c ollec - profes s ional as r e lin q uis h res s hip of s pac e, f rag mentation of tivis m, ignoranc - s oc iations and - pons ibilities , e, ill it e rac y , s bodies , bu rea opt out, c ontrol, hous ing, c onu udis - trus t, rbatio ns , tu- pidity, c ynic c rats , expe rts withhold, des ire t c entrali zation is m, i n e x pe r i en c e , d is c r im in a ti o know eve r ng laws , ment al ything going , on intellec tualis m, inc o m pl ac e nc y s titutions , welfare , d i s h o n e s t y s tate, g ro wing , defens iv enes s powe r of go ve rnment, hierarc hic al , s u pe rf i c i a- s truc tu res , o utdated s oc ial lity, H y p e r a c t i vi t Unemplo ymen t, T o win, to ru n Congos tion , c o y , apath y, profes s ionalis marat hons , rus r- porat e g reed utilitam h fo r rianis m, addic in s ports , wo rk aroun d, t r y to get s pac e, B r itis h tiveethic , c riminality res ults , o ve rplan weathe r, pac k age nes s , ner vo us - , Vic torian values t im e ta bl es , h o li da y s , ove nes s ,inflexibilit , junk e nte rtain - to judge and re- r- c rowde d s c y, lonelines s , ment, Calvi nis m, pres s , w or k too hed depres s televis ion, famil y/ hard, bus ines s , ules , tempo ral ion,egoism, c paren ts , te ac h- foc us outs ide our- paran oia, lac k of ompetiti venes s , ers , c ons um er - s elves , ignore s pac es te be s c h e d u l i s m , is m, adv er tis what is g oing on idle, envi ronme nt fatigue, s tres s , ing, telephone , no t ins ide us ,ac t f Calvinis m, pr o- ob ti- gations , rom c onditioning a adapted to c limat e, d u c t i v e n e s s wor k, hos tile en nd lac k of quietn es s , guilt, c onfus habit, t o bu rn out and p riva te s pac e viro n- ment w ion, unimaginaai age ry ve - nes s , ex ploita - tion, rep res s ion, greod , ebries s imia, direc ti vo
IDLENESS
46
rabio 7 .ntinued
CREATION

Table 8: NEGATIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX, (GREAT BRITAIN)
BEING HAVING DOING INTERACTING
47
BEING
HAVING
DOING
INTERACTING
IDENTITY
FREEDOM
I n hi bi tio n , re- Oppres s ion, c en Commerc ialize, T ime pres s ure, s erve, fear, dull- - s ors hip, devalue loc al lac k of s pac c reativit y, bias e, c ontrolled nes s , boredom, indus c onformity, wor k trialization, mas s c reativo minds to environme nt, - a h olic is m , produc tion, di- indus trial needs , from nature, tamed apvis ion of labour, idolize, fetis hize, environme nt, no athy, a nomie, fo r- adve rtis ing in- des troy, dis c our- plac e for c reate d malis m, ins dus try, largo- age, ins titutional- things , no c oms pac e, titus c ale produc tion, i z e, put down munity tionalis m, inade- etiquette, media, others , judge, warped s ens e of approp riate time quac y, s atu s pec ial i za ti on , make c ompa rration, s t ub b o rn examination s ys - is ons , us e, no ac c es s n es s , willfulnes s tem, the military, moralize, foc us to c ommunal fac , fear, ili- ties , poor illnes s , didac tic on ends a c c e pta n c e , than rhythms in c nature of educ a- rather s erious nes s , left- tional s ys tem, means , deny reativit y, no time b r a i ned nes s , educ ation for left/right balanc e to review , overcrowdin repres s ivenes s , mas s produc tion, g, indifferenc e, s elf- s c hool s ys tems s peed required to denial, numbnes s , predominanc e produc e, lac k o f of material objec group c rea tivit y Power les s nes s Cas te s ys tem, s ro s earc h for uni- Com muting, pub s , c ul t u re , , fear, c hau vinis o- c ial rules , c quenes over - c ritual- ize, bec m, las s rowding, regiins ec urity, elitis s truc ture, media,ome ob m, defas hions , gala- s es s ed, repres mentation, s, graded environ fatigue nation- les s nes s , s is olate ones elf, ment, c los ed famialis m, s eparation, role c aturation, i ns i gni onflic t, irrelev anc c onform, c ollude ly s ys tems fic an c e , e, in- to maintain s tatus r a t i o n a l i s m , d us t rial i za tio n, quo, ins titutionalc entralis m, c ol-the s heer numb er ize people, wear a lec tivis m, agisof people, depe r- uniform, hile and m, s exis m, rac iss onalization, los s s uppres s , s urm, of c ommunity, render to othe rs ' lac k of s elf-es - material po vert y e x p e c t a t io n teem, pos s es - s tatis tic s , prec s , adopt pos s ivenes s , on- c ep ti on s , itions , refus e to alienation, c pre- know ones elf, deny onformity, judic es , ridic r o o t l e s s n e s s ule, s tereoty pe, c onnec tion with Deprivatio Cons traint, opT o polarize depres s ion, ac quis n , pove rty, c c is ion-making, Lac k of s pac e, i- t i v en es s , ens ordis trus t, repres s 40- hour wo r k pas - s ivity, s hip, i lln es s , , rob, de value fea r, wee k, laws totalitar- Britis h elec regulating i a nis m, ignor- toral s ys tem, s elf-dec eption, opening hours , anc e, rationalis m, unequal abdic ate res pon- threatening ens ibility, c fear, obe dienc e, repres enta tion, vironmen ts , dor e s o u r c e l es s mac his mo, injus orrupt, c ontrol mination by - nes s , c i v ili t - tic eofjudic ials thro ugh money and/or c ultural envir ony, ys power, ac t from ment to lac k in c owardic pove rty, lac k tem, individual- habit, c onform, e of rights to c om is m, c ens ors legis late hip, c e nt r al i za ti mon s pac es , rao n, Whitehall, c tional frontiers , las s overcrowdin g , c reation of s ys tem, unemployment, Offic ial poo r quality s pac Sec rets Ac t, e, majority rights vers us mortgages , pen -
SUBSISTENCE
Self-indulgenc e
Uns us tainability Pollute
Dis harmony with nature
PROTECTION
Self-des truc tive - nes s
Profiteering, judic e
pro-
Exploit
Degradation of en vironmen t
AFFECTION
Family down
brea k- Rationality, alienDevalue ation
Break -up of family envi ronment, warped time priorities Fas t pac e of c hango inc ompatibility of language s ys tems within s oc ial environme nt
UNDERSTANDING
Prejudic e
Gaiales s nes s
Abdic ate
PARTICIPATION
Apathy
Centraliz ed go v- Give u p res pon ernment - s ibilities
Lac k of c ommunal s pac es
IDLENESS
Guilt
J unk, ment
entertain - Rus h around, ig- Conges tion nore what is going on ins ide us
CREATION
Inhibition
Predominanc e of material objec - Commerc ialize, dis c ourage tives Refus e to know ones elf, denying our c onnec tion with others and the envi ronment
Dis tanc e from all natura
IDENTITY
Fear, rootles s - nes s
Gaiales s nes s
Degrade e nvi ron ment
FREEDOM
Fear
Depriv ation
Devalue
Creation of poor quality s pac es
individual freedom
48

Table 9: NEGATIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX (SWEDEN)
BEING HAVING
49
DOING
INTERACTING
SUBSISTENCE
Meaningles s nes s , gluttony
Big s c ale s ociety Self-des troy
Environment exploitation
PROTECTION
Fear, anonymit y
Centralis ation
Avoid res pon- Pollution s ibility, avoid c ontac t
AFFECTION
Fear of c los enes Mas s s oc iety s
Avoid c ontac t
Dehumanized arc hitec ture
T he next three tables represent Lati n Ameri can cases. T abl e 10 (page 50) i s the synthesi s matri x of a Boli vi an experi ence carri ed out wi th representati ves of some forty-fi ve non-governmental organi zations worki ng at grassroots l evel s, especiall y with peasant communiti es. Tabl es 11 and 12 (pages 51-52) correspond to a complete exerci se, carried out in i ts seven phases i n the Muni cipality of La Paz in the Province of Mendoza, Argenti na. It i s the poorest muni cipali ty of the provi nce, and the exerci se was conducted by two hundred citi zens. Table 11 i s the negati ve synthesi s matri x, and Table 12 i s the desi red synthesi s matri x. It i s i nteresti ng to note that the contents of the l ast matri x have li ttle to do wi th what i s generall y assumed to be of paramount i mportance in conventi onal devel opment cri teri a. Here we have some food for thought!
UNDERSTANDING
Prejudic e
Fragmentation
T o s tres s
Is olation
Options That De termine Development Style s Human Ne e ds: From the Line ar to the Syste mic Approach
Fundamental human needs must be understood as a system, the dynami cs of whi ch do not obey hierarchi cal lineariti es. Thi s means that on the one hand, no need i s more important per se than any other; and that on the other hand, there i s no fi xed order of precedence in the actuali zation of needs (that need B, for instance, can onl y be met al ter need A has been sati sfied). Simultaneiti es, complementariti es and trade- offs are characteri sti c of the sy stem's behavior. There are, however, li mi ts to thi s generali zation. A pre-systemi c threshol d must be recogni zed, bel ow whi ch a feeli ng of depri vati on may be so severe that the urge to sati sfy the gi ven need may paral yze and overshadow any other Impul se or al ternati ve. T he case of sub si stence may serve to i ll ustra te thi s cl earl y. When the po ssi bi l i ti es of sati sfyi ng thi s need are severel y i mpai red, all other needs remain bl ocked and a si ngle and i ntense dri ve prevail s. But such a si tuation does not hol d true onl y in the
PARTICIPATION
Powerles s ness
Vas t s c aleness , expert rule
Subordinate
Is olation
IDLENESS
Lac k of s elf-c on- fidenc e
Protes tant work ethic
Worry, fill up time Lac k of time with "important" things
CREATION
"Who-are -you -to- tell-me" attitude
Lac k of traditional expres s ions , vas t Mas s c onformity Ov e res timate technocratic dis tanc es between thinking home and plac es
IDENTITY
Lac k of c onOffic ial lies fidenc e, fals enes s
Dec ide agains t c onvic tions
Dec is ions made far from people affec ted
FREEDOM
Sec urity-orienta- Bureauc rac y tion
Obey, o ver -regu - late
Conformity with c ity and hous ing planning
case
50

Table 10: NEGATIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX (BOLIVIA)

Table 11: NEGATIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX (Mendoza, ARGENTINA)
BEING HAVING Unemployment DOIN Depend
51
INTERACTING Destruction of the environment
BEING SUBSISTENCE Ignorance
HAVING Corruption
DOING Exploit
INTERACTING Lack of infrastructure, poor demographic distribution Spatial discrimination
SUBSISTENCE
Dependence
PROTECTION
Paternalism
Inadequate social Depend security
Isolation
PROTECTION
Insecurity
Institutional arbitrariness
Discriminate
AFFECTION AFFECTION Insecurity Loss of moral values D e c ei ve cheat and Geographical i s ola t io n , split families I nadequa te milieus, lack of communication systems Lack of infrastructure IDLENESS Lack of time for oneself dueto survival efforts Lack of adequate milieus IDENTITY IDENTITY Domination Lack of integration policies Indoctrinate Irrational growth urban FREEDOM FREEDOM Authoritarianism Injustice Dominate Dependence
Selfishness
Lack of positi ve attitudes toward fellow-creatures
Criticize
S e par a ti on of families duo to seasonal working schedules Inadequate demographical distribution
UNDERSTANDING
Incommunication, mediocrity
Authoritarianism
Accept, pseudoinform
UNDERSTANDING
Ignorance
Obsolete educational system
Marginate, dogmatize
PARTICIPATION
Ignorance
Ignorance about rights and duties
Depend
Isolation
PARTICIPATION
Discrimination
Centralization, no Prejudice respect for human rights Lack of adequate educational sys- Manipulate tems Education based on memorizing
Lack of interest
Lack of leisure means
Devalue
Lack of s timulating milieus, crowded ness Isolation, crowdedness
IDLENESS
Deorientation , repression
CREATION
Conformism
Mediocrity
Destroy
CREATION
Alienation
Underestimate
Lack of sonality
per-
False prejudices
Divide
Isolation
Dependence
Lack of conMilieus of dopond sciousness about Divide, speculate ence true liberties
of subsi stence. It i s equall y relevant to other needs. Suffi ce i t to say, that total lack of affecti on, or the l oss of identi ty, may lead people to extremes of sel f-destruction. T he choi ce of whether to follow the assumpti ons of l ineari ty or the sy stemic assumptions i s such an i mportant one that i t will determine the resul ting style of devel opment. If l ineari ty i s favored, the devel opment strategy will most probabl y
establi sh its pri orities accordi ng to the observed poverty of subsi stence. Programs of soci al assi stance wi ll be i mpl emented as a means of tack l i ng poverty a s i t i s conventi onal l y understood.
Need s wi l l be i nterpreted excl usi vel y as depri vations and, at best, the sati sfiers that the system may gene rate wi l l co rre spond to tho se i denti fi ed i n thi s boo k a s si ngul ar. Last, but not l east, li near assumptions wi ll stimul ate accumul ati on regardl ess of peopl e's human development. Paradoxi cal l y, thi s opti on resul t s i n a ci rcul ar cumul ati ve causati on (i n tbe sen se of My rdal ) a nd thu s th e poo r remai n poo r i na sm uch a s thei r depen dence on e x - ogenousl y generated sati sfiers i ncreases. If one opts for the systemi c assumpti ons, the development strategy
50

Table 10: NEGATIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX (BOLIVIA)

Table 11: NEGATIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX (Mendoza, ARGENTINA)
BEING HAVING Unemployment DOING Depend INTERACTING Destruction of the environment
51
BEING SUBSISTENCE Ignorance
HAVING Corruption
DOING Exploit
INTERACTING Lack of infrastructure, poor demographic distribution Spatial discrimination
SUBSISTENCE
Dependence
PROTECTION
Paternalism
Inadequate social Depend security
Isolation
PROTECTION
Insecurity
Institucional arbitrariness
Discriminate
AFFECTION AFFECTION Insecurity Loss of moral values D e c ei ve cheat and Geographical i s ola t io n , split families I nadequa te milieus, lack of communication systems Lack of infrastructure IDLENESS Lack of time for oneself dueto survival efforts Lack of adequate milieus IDENTITY IDENTITY Domination Lack of integration policies Indoctrinate Irrational growth urban FREEDOM FREEDOM Authoritarianism Injustice Dominate Dependence
Selfishness
Lack of positi ve attitudes toward fellow-creatures
Criticize
S e par a ti on of families duo to seasonal working schedules Inadequate demographical distribution
UNDERSTANDING
Incommunication, mediocrity
Authoritarianism
Accept, pseudoinform
UNDERSTANDING
Ignorance
Obsolete educational system
Marginate, dogmatize
PARTICIPATION
Ignorance
Ignorance about rights and duties
Depend
Isolation
PARTICIPATION
Discrimination
Centralization, no Prejudice respect for human rights Lack of adequate educational sys- Manipulate tems Education based on memorizing
Lack of interest
Lack of leisure means
Devalue
Lack of s timulating milieus, crowded ness Isolation, crowdedness
IDLENESS
Deorientation, repression
CREATION
Conformism
Mediocrity
Destroy
CREATION
Alienation
Underestimate
Lack of sonality
per-
False prejudices
Divide
Isolation
Dependence
Lack of conMilieus of dopond sciousness about Divide, speculate ence true liberties
of subsi stence. It i s equall y relevant to other needs. Suffi ce i t to say, that total lack of affecti on, or the l oss of identi ty, may lead people to extremes of sel f-destruction. T he choi ce of whether to follow the assumpti ons of l ineari ty or the sy stemic assumptions i s such an i mportant one that i t will determine the resul ting style of devel opment. If l ineari ty i s favored, the devel opment strategy will most probabl y
establi sh its pri orities accordi ng to the observed poverty of subsi stence. Programs of soci al assi stance wi ll be i mpl emented as a means of tack l i ng poverty a s i t i s conventi onal l y understood.
Need s wi l l be i nterpreted excl usi vel y as depri vations and, at best, the sati sfiers that the system may gene rate wi l l co rre spond to tho se i denti fi ed i n thi s boo k a s si ngul ar. Last, but not l east, li near assumptions wi ll stimul ate accumul ati on regardl ess of peopl e's human development. Paradoxi cal l y, thi s opti on resul t s i n a ci rcul ar cumul ati ve causati on (i n tbe sen se of My rdal ) a nd thu s th e poo r remai n poo r i na sm uch a s thei r depen dence on e x - ogenousl y generated sati sfiers i ncreases. If one opts for the systemi c assumpti ons, the development strategy
52
53
Tabfe 12: POSITIVE SYNTHESIS MATRIX (Mendoza, ARGENTINA)

BEING SUBSISTENCE Drive HAVING Capac ity to c om- plete projec ts DOING Cons truc t s ys tem of higher educ ation INTERACTING Care about human and natural res ourc es
From Efficiency to Syne rgy

To interpret devel opment as proposed here impli es a change i n the prevaili ng economic rati onale. It compel s us, among other thi ngs, to undertake a cri ti cal and ri gorous revi sion of the concept of effi ciency. Thi s concept i s often associ ated wi th noti ons such as the maximi zati on of producti vi ty and of profi ts, the ambigui ty of both terms notwi thstanding. If we stretch economi c cri teri a to the most ali enated extreme of in- strumental reasoni ng, producti vi ty appears qui te i neffi cient. In fact, by overemphasi zi ng the need for Subsi stence, i t sacri fi ces other needs and so ends up threatening Subsi stence i tself. T he domi nant development di scourses al so associ ate effi ci ency wi th the conversi on of l abor into capi tal , wi th the formal i zati on of economi c acti vities, the i ndi scri minate absorption of the newest technol ogi es and, of course, the maximi zation of growth rates. In the eyes of many, devel opment consi sts of achi eving the materi al l i ving stand- ards of the most industri ali zed countri es in order for people to have access to a growi ng array of goods (arti facts) whi ch become i ncreasingl y more di versi fi ed. It may be asked to what extent such attempts at emulati on make any sense at all. Fi rst, there i s no evidence that peopl e in those countri es experi ence thei r needs i n an i ntegrated manner. Second, i n the ri ch countri es, the abundance of goods and economi c resources has not proved to be a suffi ci ent condi tion for sol vi ng the probl em of alienation. Human Scale Development does not excl ude conventi onal goal s, such as economi c growth, so that all persons may have access to requi red goods and servi ces. However, the difference wi th respect to the prevail ing development styl es li es i n consi deri ng the aims of development not onl y as points of arri val , but as components of the process i t- sel f. In other words, fundamental human needs can and must be realized from the outset and throughout the enti re process of development. In thi s manner, the real i zati on of needs becomes, i nstead of a goal , the motor of devel opment i tsel f. T hi s i s possi ble onl y i f the development strategy proves to be capabl e of sti mulati ng the permanent generati on of synergi c sati sfiers. T o integrate the harmoni ous reali zati on of human needs into the
PROTECTION
Pers onality
Res pec t for family Cons cientize
Integration
AFFECTION
Solidarity
Capac ity to give of ones elf
C r it ic i z e c on- Spac es of enc s truc tively ounter
UNDERSTANDING
Harmony, dialogue, c ri tic a l Pers everanc e c onsc ienc e Res pec t for Initiative, humility human rights
Value virtues of others
Non-dis c riminatory c ommunic ation
PARTICIPATION
Dialogue
Fac tories and univers ities
IDLENESS
Willingness , originality
Imagination
Rec reate
Plac es of enc ounter
CREATION
Imagination
Originality
Work
Stimulating milieus of produc tion
IDENTITY
Authentic ity
Integrated pers onalities
T ake res pons i- bility
Feel part of s oc ial s ys tem
FREEDOM
Res pec t
Res ponsibility
T ake c ons cienc e Adequate milieus
wi ll favor endogenousl y generated synergi c sati sfiers. Needs wi l l be understood si mul taneousl y as depri vations and potenti al s, thus al low- i ng for the eli mination of the vi ci ous ci rcle of poverty. It foll ows from the abo e that the way in whi ch needs are understood, and the role and attri butes ascri bed to the possi ble sati sfiers, are absolutel y definiti ve i n determi ning a development strategy.
y
54
process of development gi ves everyone the possi bili ty of experi enci ng that devel opment from i ts very outset. Thi s may gi ve origi n to a heal - thy, sel f-reli ant and parti cipative development, capabl e of creati ng the foundations for a social order within whi ch economi c growth, solidarity and the growth of al l men and women as whole persons can be reconcil ed. Devel opment capabl e of combi ning synergy wi th effi ciency may not be enough to full y attai n that whi ch i s desi red, but i t i s surel y suffi ci ent to persuade peopl e that the undesi rable i s not al ways unavoidabl e.
3. DEVELOPM ENT AND SELF-RELI ANCE
Ma nf re d Ma x - Ne e f , An t oni o El i za l de and Martin Hopenhayn
Toward a Se lf-re liant Deve lopme nt On M ultiple De pende ncie s

Up to the present, the efforts to establ i sh a New International Economi c Order and a new i nternational di vi si on of labor have been unabl e to all evi ate the economi c, financi al , technologi cal and cultural relati onshi ps of dependence of Thi rd World countries on i ndustriali zed nations. The increasing power wielded by financi al capital has restri cted further the capaci ty and the ri ght of debtor countries to determi ne thei r own desti ny. In thi s regard, the adj ustment poli cies i mposed by the In- ternational Monetary Fund on Latin Ameri can governments, appl yi ng for l oans to maintai n thei r di sproporti onate debt servi ce payments, reflects the power of the international banking system to undermine
the soverei gnty of poor countries. The patterns of consumption, exported by the affluent countri es and
56
Development and Self-reliance ines for
57
imposed upon Thi rd World countri es, subject the latter to relationships of exchange that make dependence more acute, perpetuate thei r i nternal i mbalances and threaten thei r cul tural identi ty. It i s the industri al countri es that not onl y control a substanti al part of gl obal industri al producti on, but al so produce and market the new "breakthrough" technol ogies. They are al so responsi bl e for propagati ng the message that such technol ogies al ong wi th thei r accompanyi ng products are absol utel y essenti al for any society seeki ng to improve the wel fare of i ts members. T he dependence on such patterns of consumption i s encouraged from wi thi n Thi rd Worl d countri es by power groups that reap the benefits deri ved from marketing them. Thi s has contributed signi ficantl y to the indebtedness of Lati n Ameri can countries. Accordi ng to estimates made by the economi st 1 Jacobo Schatan, between 1978 and 1981 the amount of non-essenti al imports rose to $14 billi on in Mexi co, to $10 bill ion in Brazil and to $5 billi on i n Chil e. For example, luxury i mports accounted for a per capi ta expenditure of $79 in Brazil , $200 in Mexi co and soared to $513 i n Chile. India, however, onl y imposed l uxury goods to the value of $5 per capi ta, and i t i s no mere coi nci dence that its foreign debt i s much lower than that of Latin Ameri can countri es. To break away from i mitati ve consumption patterns not onl y frees us from the spell of cul tural dependence, but al so creates the condi tions for a more effi ci ent use of the resources generated in the periphery. It further l essens the negati ve impact of protectioni st poli cies that i ndustri al countri es put into practi ce to shelter thei r own products. T he various forms of dependence rei nforce one another. The different domains of dependenceeconomi c, financial , technol ogi cal , cultural and poli ti cal cannot be viewed i n i sol ation from one another, si nce the power of one i s deri ved from the support i t recei ves from the other domains. It i s because of these mul ti ple dependenci es that devel opment geared toward sel f-reli ance and the sati sfacti on of human needs i s i nhi bi ted. The sati sfaction of such fundamental human needs as Subsi stence, Protection, Parti cipation, Creati on, Identi ty and Freedom i s restri cted by the demands whi ch the i nternational centers of power, e i t h e r e x p l i c i t l y o r i m pl i c i tl y , i mp o se u p o n t h e c o un t ri e s i n t h e periphery. T hi s i s apparent i n matters of poli ti cal model s, gui del
economi c growth, cul tural patterns, i ncorporation of technol ogi es, opti ons for consumpti on, exchange relati onships and ways of sol ving soci al confli cts. T he acceptance of such demands not onl y nurtures dependencies, but al so rei nforces them. We are caught i n a vi ci ous ci rcle wi thin whi ch littl e or nothing can be accompl i shed i n terms of sati sfyi ng the most vital needs of the great masses i n Thi rd World countries. Under such condi tions, i t would be more accurate to speak of "antidevel opment" countri es, rather than of devel oping countries. T he poli ti cal i ssue of Human Scal e Development does not consi st of seeki ng spaces whi ch the New International Economi c Order mi ght open up for the economi es of the periphery. On the contrary, it i s a questi on of de fi ning a sel f-rel iant devel opment strategy and, from thi s perspecti ve; look for possi bl e support from the New Internati onal Economi c Order whi ch can help to promote these obj ecti ves. For example, i t i s not a questi on of maximi zing exports i n terms of the demands from the center, and then wonderi ng how to utili ze export revenues. Instead, we should begin by regul ating the fl ow of exports and decreasing the fl ow of i mports, as i s consi stent wi th more endogenous and sel f-reli ant devel opment. In much the same way as we have coped wi th an interrelationshi p of domains of dependence (fi nancial, technol ogi cal , cul tural and poli tical ), we are paral yzed by an accumulati on of spaces of dependence (local , regional, national and i nternational ). Economi c concentrati on al ong with the central i zati on of poli ti cal deci si ons generates and rei nforces dependencies among these di fferent l evel s. Poor countries are subj ected to the will of the ri ch countries; and wi thi n poor countri es the same pattern exi sts, where l ocal and regional real iti es seem doomed to subordinate thei r development to the deci sions of central i zed poli ti cal and economi c i nterests.
Se lf-reliance at the Ce nte r of Developme nt

Dependent relations from the internati onal space to the l ocal spaces, and from the technol ogi cal to the cul tural domai n, generate and rei nforce processe s of dominance that frustrate the sati sfaction of human n ee d s. I I i s o nl y b y g ene ra ti ng se l f -rel i a nc e, w h e re pe opl e a ssu me a l ea di ng rol e i n di f fe re n t do mai n s a nd sp a ce s, M at i t is
58
Development and Self-reliance
59
p o ssi b l e t o promote devel opment processe s wi th synergi c effects that sati sfy fundamental human needs. We understand sel f-reli ance i n terms of a hori zontal interdependence and i n no way as an i solati oni st tendency on the part of nations, regions, l ocal communities or cul tures. Interdependence without autho ri ta ri an rel ati on shi p s i s abl e to combi ne th e obj ecti ve s of economi c growth, soci al justi ce, personal devel opment and freedom i n much the same way that a harmoni ous combinati on of such obj ecti ves can achieve both the coll ecti ve and i ndi vidual sati sfacti on of the different fundamental human needs. Understood as a process capable of promoti ng parti cipation i n deci si on-maki ng, social creati vi ty, poli ti cal sel f-determi nati on, a fai r di stribution of weal th and tol erance for the di versi ty of i denti ti es, sel f- reli ance becomes a turning poi nt i n the arti cul ation of human bei ngs wi th nature and technology, of the personal wi th the social , of the mi cro with the macro, of autonomy wi th planning and of ci vil society wi th the state. Articulation Among Human Beings, Nature and Technology. The behavior generated by an anthropocentri c cosmol ogy that places human bei ngs above nature i s consi stent wi th the tradi ti onal styl es of devel opment. Hence, the economi sti c vi ew of devel opment, measured b y means of such aggregate i ndi cators as the GNP, indi scri mi nati ngl y regards as posi ti ve any processes where market transactions take pl ace, regardl ess of whether they are producti ve, unproducti ve or destructive. As an example, i t i s i n thi s way that the i ndi scriminate depredati on of natural resources makes the GNP grow, as in the case of a si ck populati on when i t i ncreases i ts consumpti on of pharmaceuti cal s or use of hospi tal facili ti es. Seemi ngl y, modern technol ogies may often be decepti ve. A remarkabl e exampl e i s that of the North Ameri can farming system, acknowledged for i ts great effi ci ency. Hi ghl y mechani zed and benefi ting from subsi di zed petrol eum, i t i s an extraordi naril y i neffi ci ent system when measured i n terms of the amount of energy used to yield a set amount of kilo/calories. Nonetheless, when measured in monetary terms, i t con-tributes to the growth of the GNP. These examples al so hol d true for the countri es of the T hi rd Worl d, very much under the "spell " of the latest technol ogies.
In Mexi co, accordi ng to i nformati on provi ded by the Xochi calli Foundati on, i t i s estimated that 19,000k/cal. are used in order to put 2,200k/cal . of food on the table. Furthermore, the amount of energy consumed i n transporting foodstuffs in Mexi co i s almost equal to the total energy requi red by the primary sector for food producti on. T he fact that such si tuations are consi dered to be posi ti ve i s undoubtedl y a conceptual aberration. Since Human Scale Devel opment i s concerned mai nl y wi th the ful - fill ment of fundamental human needs of present as well as future generations, i t advocates a concept of development whi ch i s essenti all y ecological . T hi s implies, on the one hand, creati ng indi cators capabl e of di scri minati ng between what i s positi ve and what i s negative and, on the other hand, designing and using technologi es that can be adapted to a trul y eco-humani st process of development and thus ensure the conservati on of natural resources for the future. Articulation Betw een the Personal and the Social. The prevaili ng poli ti cal model s and development styles have been unable to make com- patibl e personal devel opment and social devel opment. The exerci se of power, especi all y when inspi red by restri cti ve ideologi es, tends to either lose si ght of the person in the archetype of the masses or to sacri fi ce the masses to the archetype of the i ndi vidual . In fact, there are many model s that postpone social devel opment in the name of consumer soverei gnty, whil e overl ooki ng the fact that reducing a person to the mere category of a consumer al so impai rs the possi bili ti es of personal development. Soci al and personal development are i nseparabl e. Therefore, i t would be unreasonable to expect that one of them may automati cal l y be the consequence of the other. A heal thy society should advocate above al l the development of every person and of the whol e person. T radi tionall y, it has been thought that owing to scarce resources, we are obliged to choose between personal and social devel opment strategi es rather than adopt comprehensi ve poli cies. Undoubtedl y, such thi nki ng ari se s f rom a conventi onal concepti on of effi ci ency. If, however, we consider conventi onal resources along with nonconventi onal resources wi th thei r synergi c potential (see On Resources, page 76), we real i ze that comprehensi ve poli ci es are vi abl e, and that onl y by combini ng, personal and social development i s i t possi ble to achi eve a
60
Development and Self-reliance in terms of devel opment pol i cies.
61
heal thy society compri sed of heal thy i ndi vidual s. T he arti culati on between the personal and soci al di mensi ons of devel opment may be achi eved through i ncrea si ng l evel s of sel f- reliance. At a personal level, sel f-reliance stimulates our sense of i dentity, our creati ve capacity, our sel f-confi dence and p our eed for freedom. At the soci al level , self-reli ance strengthens the capaci ty for subsi s- tence, provi des protection against exogenous hazards, enhances endogenous cultural i denti ty and develops the capaci ty to generate greater spaces of col lecti ve freedom. T he necessary combination of both the personal and the soci al i n Human Scale Development compel s us, then, to encourage sel f-reli ance at the di fferent l evel s: i ndi vi dual , local , regional and nati onal . Articulation Betw een the Micro and the Macro. Relati onshi ps of dependence fl ow from the top downwardsfrom the macro to the mi cro, from the i nternational l evel to the l ocal l evel , from the soci al domain to the i ndi vi dual domai n. Relati onships of sel freliance, on the contrary, have greater synergi c and mul tipl yi ng effects when they fl ow from the bottom upwards; that i s to say, to the extent that local self- reli ance stimulates regional sel f-rel iance, whi ch in turn fosters nati onal sel f-reli ance. T hi s does not mean that poli cies at the macro level are intri nsi call y unable to communi cate self-reli ance to mi cro-social level s, but i t does impl y that two challenges must be met. T he fi rst invol ves mini mi zi ng the ri sk of reproduci ng verti cal rel ationships i n the name of regional and l ocal sel f-reli ance. The second means sel f-reliant processe s ori ginating from mi cro-spaces should be l ess bureaucrati c, more democrati c and more efficient in combini ng personal growth with soci al development. It i s preci sel y these soci al and physi cal spaces-- famil y, group, communi ty and local whi ch have a di stinct human scal e dimension; that i s, a scal e where the soci al does not annul the i ndi vidual ; rather the i ndi vidual may empower the soci al. In Human Scal e Devel opment, these spaces are fundamental to the generati on of synergi c sati sfi ers. It i s not our i ntenti on to suggest that sel f-reli ance i s achi eved simpl y by social and economi c i nteraction in small physi cal spaces. Such an assumpti on would do nothi ng but repli cate a mechani sti c perception whi ch has al ready been very harmful
f sel f-reli ant processes at the gl obal and local level s do not complement each other, the most l i kel y consequence will be the coopti ng of the mi cro by the macro. Compl ementary rel ationships between the macro and the mi c ro, and among the vari ou s mi c ro- spa ce s, may faci li tate the mutual empoweri ng of processes of soci o-cul tural i dentity, poli ti cal autonomy and economi c sel f-reli ance. (See pages 8586.) Articula tio n Be tw een Plannin g and Au to nom y. T o achi eve i ncreasi ng l evel s of poli ti cal autonomy and economi c sel f-reli ance in l ocal spaces, i t i s necessary to promote processes wi th such objecti ves. Thi s poses a central chall enge for Human Scale Development: to reconcil e external promotion wi th internal i nitiati ves. T he spontaneous acti vi ty of l ocal groups or of i sol ated indi vi dual s cannot have any real impact i f not nurtured and empowered through the acti on of pl anners and poli ti cians. What i s needed i s gl obal planning for greater local autonomy. Thi s pl anni ng should be capable of mobili zing exi sti ng groups and communi ti es, to transform thei r survi val strategies into li fe) options that are organi call y arti culated as poli ti cal and soci al proj ects throughout the national space. Articulation Between the State and Ci vi l Society. T o transform dependence i nto autonomy requi res deep structural changes i n the relati onshi p between the state and ci vil soci ety. These changes seek not onl y to create and reinforce sel freliance, but al so to sol ve the confli cts and contradi ctions that may ari se in the process of generating i ncreasi ng sel f-reli ance. The interconnecti on between mul tiple dependenci es (from the internati onal to the local, from the technol ogi cal to the sociocul tural ) can onl y be confronted through soci al mobili zation geared to the consoli dati on of sel f-reliance and through a deep respect for the di versity of cul tures, forms of organi zation and uses of local space. Furthermore, sel f-rel iance i ncreases cri ti cal awareness. T hi s means that more people will assume thei r role as soci al protagoni sts and, as such, thi s i ncreasi ng parti cipation must be harmoni zed withi n an organi c whol e. As l ong as economi c and soci al organi zati ons remai ns framed wi thi n a pyrami dal poli ti cal logi c, it wi ll be extremel y di ffi cul t l
ocate and di versi fy resources in a way that comes to terms wi th the struct ural
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heterogenei ty of the Lati n Ameri can populati on. For thi s reason, i t i s necessary to counterbal ance the states l ogi c of power wi th the demands for poli ti cal autonomy that ari se from ci vi l societyfrom the peopl e and thei r organi zati ons. It i s through effecti ve experi ences of sel f-reli ance that it wi ll be possi ble to overcome the prejudi ce that effi ci ency necessari l y goes hand in hand with centrali zed deci si on- maki ng. To deny the rol e of the state and of publi c poli cies i n the execution of pl anning and resource allocation i s not reali sti c. On the other hand, the surrender of soci al and productive organi zati ons, generated by ci vil soci ety, to a "macrocephali c" state would corrupt the process of developi ng sel f-reli ance. Encouragi ng self-reli ance in many spaces means consideri ng devel opment not as an expressi on of a predominant class or of a si ngle pol iti cal proj ect controll ed by the state, but as the outcome of a di versi ty of indi vi dual and coll ecti ve proj ects capabl e of empoweri ng one another. In order to guarantee such processes, the state must assume the criti cal rol e of openi ng up spaces for the parti cipati on of different so cial actors. In thi s manner, the reproduction of mechani sms of exploitati on and coerci on are controll ed, thus guardi ng against the consolidation of harmful proj ects acting to i nhibit the di versi ty that needs to be strengthened and reinforced.
Empowering Groups and Social Actors

In contrast wi th the prevaili ng economi c rationale, Human Scal e Developmentfocused on encouraging sel f-rel iance wi thin the di f- ferent spaces and domai nsdoes not consider accumulation as an end in i tsel f, or as a panacea that cures all the ill s of T hi rd World countries. Al though i t i n no sense mini mi zes the importance of generati ng surpluses, i ts emphasi s i s on the consoli dati on of groups, communi ties and organi zati ons capable of forging self-reliance. T hrough i ts expansi on and arti cul ation from the mi cro-spaces to nati onal settings, economi c accumulati on can eventuall y hel p lo progressi vely sati sfy the fundamental human needs of peopl e. The capaci ty of the different groups and indi vi dual s to deci de how to use and all ocate thei r own resources will ensure a use of surpl uses that i s nei ther di scri minatory nor restri cti ve.
Spaces and Actors. In l ocal spaces, whi ch are more human i n scale, i t i s easi er to generate i nitiati ves i n sel f-reliance that could be potenti al al ternati ves to pyrami dal structures of power. It i s in human scal e spaces that personal and soci al development can reinforce each other. T herefore, there i s no dependence whi ch can be done away with effecti vel y until we redi scover and then nurture the initiati ves of soci al organi zati ons at the grassroots l evel . The rol e of the state and of publi c poli ci es i s to i denti fy these embryoni c ini ti ati ves, reinforce them and hel p them to multipl y. Besides, i t i s wi thi n local spaces that peopl e act to sati sfy thei r fundamental human needs. Al ternati ve poli cies central to Human Scale Devel opment are needed in order to empower soci al actors to initiate autonomous, sel f- sustai ni ng and harmonious devel opment in the di fferent domains. T hi s does not impl y, of course, that Human Scale Development i s solel y concerned wi th smal l soci al and physi cal spaces. The i mpact of the i nternational recessi on on Lati n Ameri can countri es and the structural imbalances of peripheral capitali sm make it obvi ous that development i n l ocal spaces i s i nadequate unl ess i t i s compl emented by gl obal poli ci es to al levi ate the precari ous condi tions of the di spossessed masses. However, such poli cies must i nclude i n thei r agenda the allocati on of resources capabl e of sti mulati ng sel f-reliance wi thin local spaces. Self-reliance Versus Instrumentalization. Self-reli ance presents a contrast to the uni formi ty of behavior among soci al sectors and actors that i s conventi onall y expected. Peopl e are no l onger just i nstruments for the efficient accumul ati on of capi tal . In the Thi rd Worl d, the pri ce rai d for capi tal accumul ation and effi ciency i s dependence. Yet, dependence i nhibi ts the sati sfacti on of fundamental human needs and, therefore, i s a pri ce whi ch shoul d not be tolerated. It means that the di spossessed masses are mani pul ated i n rel ation to the demands made by the great centers of economi c power and that heterogeneous forms of cul ture, production and organi zation are consi dered mere stumbl ing bl ocks to growth. An economi c rati onale i s needed that does not ascribe importance to i ndi scriminate accumul ation nor to the mere i mprovement of conven-
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Development and Self-reliance regi onal or na-
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ti onal economi c i ndi cators i rrel evant to the well -being of peopl e, nor to pri nciples of effi ci ency unrel ated to the sati sfacti on of human needs. Thi s rati onal e i s ai med at enhanci ng peopl e's quali ty of l i fe and i s sustai ned by re spect fo r di ve rsi ty al ong w i th a refusal to turn so me peopl ei nto i nstru ments of othe rs and so me count ri es i nto i nstru ments of others. The Logic of Economics Versus the Ethics of Well-being. It i s necessary to counter a logi c of economi cs, whi ch has i nheri ted the in- strumental reasoning that permeates modem cul ture wi th an ethi cs of w ell -being. The feti shi sm of numbers must be repl aced by the devel opment of peopl e. T he state's verti cal management and the exploitati on of some groups by others must gi ve way to a soci al will encouragi ng parti cipation, autonomy and the equi tabl e di stri bution of resources. It i s absol utel y necessary to do away wi th a pri ori categori es and assumpti ons whi ch, thus far, have not been questioned at the l evel s of macro-economi cs and macro-pol iti cs. A commitment to Human Scale Development makes i t necessary to encourage indi vi dual s to assume responsi bili ty for a devel opment al ternati ve based on sel f-reli ance. In thi s respect, the central question for Human Scale Development i s: What resources are to be generated, and how should they be used in order to nurture sel f-rel iance i n indi vidual s and in mi cro-spaces? Sel f-reliance invol ves a ki nd of regenerati on or revi tali zation emanating from one's own efforts, capabili ti es and resources. Strategically, it means that what can be produced (or worked out) at local level s i s what shoul d be produced (or worked out) at l ocal l evel s. The same pri nciple holds true at the regi onal and national level s. Opting for Self-reliance. Sel f-reli ance changes the way in whi ch peopl e percei ve thei r own potenti al and capabili ti es. Often thei r sense of value and self-worth has been deni grated as a resul t of center peri phery relati ons. The reducti on of economi c dependence, one of the objecti ves of sel f-reliant devel opment, i s not expected to be a substi tute for trade or exchange. T hese will al ways be necessary as certain goods or servi ces cannot be generated or provided al a l ocal ,
ti onal l evel . Thus, sel f-reli ance must of necessi ty acqui re a col lecti ve nature. It must become a process of i nterdependence among, equal
partners so that forms of soli dari ty prevail over blind competi tion. Sel f-rel iant devel opment permits a more complete and harmoni ous sati sfaction of the system of fundamental human needs. By l esseni ng economi c dependence, subsi stence i s safeguarded, si nce economi c fl uctuati ons (recessi ons, depressi ons) cause greater damage when a center-peri phery structure prevail s. Furthermore, it fosters parti cipation and creati vity. It stimulates and rei nforces cul tural i dentity through an i ncrease i n sel f-confi dence. Finall y, communi ties achi eve a better understandi ng of technologi es and producti ve processe s when they are capabl e of self-management.
protagoni st s, su ch a s youth g roup s, women's organi zations , trade uni ons , indigenous
entrepreneurs ,
On the World
Invisible
The Invisible World and Its P otential

It i s not our intenti on to present the i nvi si bl e sectors or the mi cro- organi zati ons as absol ute sustai ners of a structural transformation of soci ety or as redeemers of contemporary hi story. If we have devoted an i mportant part of thi s book to these protagoni sts, i t has been wi th the purpose of emphasi zing what i s i gnored i n a great part of the li terature on devel opment, namel y, all the "sub-hi story" of everyday li fe where producti ve practi ces are linked cl osel y to coll ecti ve survi val strategies, cul tural identities and popul ar memory. Full y aware of all the economi c and cultural l imi tati ons of the invi si bl e worl d, we thi nk, however, that such a world contains and generates connections between economi c practi ces, soci al organi zati ons and cul tural features whi ch cannot be di sregarded in any di scussi on concerned wi th endogenous development. Finall y, our emphasi s on the i nvi si bl e worl d and i ts mi cro organi zati ons a l so con fo rm s to the ne ed to compl em ent o the r perspecti ves emphasi zing development from the bottom upwards i n order to acknowledge as rel evant what tradi ti onal l y has been seen as margi nal . Moreover, we are interested i n efforts to understand the dynami cs of othe r emergi ng
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Human Scale Development groups, and so forth. We do not wi sh to contri bute to an ideali zation of the popul ar sectors. We si mpl y intend to recogni ze thei r val ue and potenti al as soci al actors who can help create a parti ci patory and decentrali zed form of democracythe practi ce of democracy at a human scal e. T he economi c cri si s dominating Latin Ameri ca expresse s i tsel f i n many di fferent ways. One of the most significant manifestati ons of thi s si tuati on has been the sustai ned expansion of the invi si ble sectors over the last few years. In countri es wi th high unemployment level s, the con- tingent of the acti ve popul ation that holds non-salaried jobs i s of such a magni tude that there i s no l onger any sense i n considering it as a resi dual sector of society. By a strange ki nd of di al ecti c, these sectors mani fest themsel ves both as an extreme expressi on of the cri si s and as a possi bl e means of emerging from it. Because they l ack opportuni ties i n the formal market, unempl oyed workers and thei r families generate al ternati ve forms of producti ve organi zation and of work i n general , thus gi ving ri se to an extraordinary di versi ty of survi val strategi es. T he i nvi si bl e sectors are marked by precari ous li vi ng and worki ng condi tions, the consequences of a permanent lack of securi ty i mposed by the competi ti ve market that creates di sadvantages for these sectors where producti vity i s l ow. All thi s i s aggravated by the fact that the i nvi sibl e worl d becomes very useful to a capi tali sm whi ch i s unable to generate suffi cient jobs i n the formal economy. Strengthening Micro-organizations. As a potenti al means of sol v- i ng the cri si s, the i nvi si ble worl d creates through survi val strategies a myriad of communi ty organi zations as wel l as producti ve mi cro- organi zati ons. In thi s sub-worl d, the ethi cs of soli dari ty that have evol ved from wi thin are an indi spensabl e resource for survi val i n the mil ieu where a domi nant l ogi c of competi tion prevail s. In thi s way, an endogenous force of sol i dari ty confronts permanentl y the exogenous forces of competi ti on. In thi s confrontation, there are two di ametri call y opposed perspecti ves: (1) that the exogenous pressures may weaken these organi zati ons to the poi nt where they wil l be di ssol ved through "i nerti a" or incorporated into the competiti ve rational e of the dominant sy stem; or (2) that these organi zati ons wi ll gai n strength thus attaini ng
Development and Self-reliance i ncreasi ng degrees of transferri ng the vi tality sel f-reliance and
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of thei r soli dari ty to other sectors of soci ety. For the latter to happen, it will be necessary to decentrali ze deci si ons, to increase access to resources and to promote popular parti ci pation. T hi s does not mean that a sel f-reli ant development poli cy should concern itsel f exclusi vel y wi th the i nternal reinforcement of the invi si ble sectors. Such a thesi s would be parti al and reductioni st. What i s at stake i s to li berate the weal th of social creati vi ty, of soli dari ty and of sel fmanaging i ni ti ati ves whi ch the i nvi si ble worl d has spawned in order to survi ve in a restri cti ve envi ronment. These i ni tiati ves, through more general l y appli ed poli ci es, wi ll chall enge the l ogi c of i ndi scri minate competi ti on and dependence. The Need for H orizontal Netw orks. T he i nvi si ble actors shoul d organi ze hori zontal networks, undertake mutual l y supporti ve acti on, articulate i ndi vidual and group practi ces and thus devel op shared projects. In thi s way, they wil l be abl e to do away wi th the fragmentati on whi ch presentl y threatens thei r exi stence. Nati onal projects that incl ude these sectors i n deci si on-maki ng and planning can minimi ze the effects of exogenous pressures and strengthen the endogenous potential .
The Inv isible World and the Latin Ame rican Crisis
An unmi stakable feature of Lati n Ameri ca's development i s the inabil ity of the formal economi c sector to absorb the steady increase in the economi call y acti ve popul ation. It generates a surpl us labor force compri sed of the unemployed and the underemployed, who i nsert themsel ves in the labor market through a vari ety of l ow income-generati ng sel femployment schemes, that i s, survival trades. Thi s heterogeneous sector of society has spawned a mul ti pli city of organi zati ons where the non i n sti tuti onal i zed p rodu cti ve uni t i s pre domi nant. Al l the se heterogeneous acti vi ti es take pl ace outside the formal producti ve sector. Indi vidual s and families, organi zed in small economic uni ts that fill the empty spaces of the system and undertake economi c acti vi ties spurned by the modem capitali sti c sector, make up a si gnifi cant part of the l abor force i n al most all I i n Ameri can countries. The parti cipati on of
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Human Scale Development whether organi zad on an i ndi vidual or on a soci al basi s. Al though these organi zati ons are embryoni c i n cha racte r, i t i s nece ssa ry to i nvesti gate and to ve ri f y i f they g cnui nel y re pre sent al ternati va fo rm s pe rti ncnt a new styl e of devel opment. Such an eval uati on woul d i nvol ve studyi ng the mul ti pl i ci ty of rati onal es that underl i e these organi zati ons. But i f theoreti cal i nvesti gati on i s to be transl ated fi nto poli ti cal change, i t i s al so necessa ry to i denti fy those new so ci al protagoni st s that are emergi ng from wi thi n the i nvi si bl e worl d and are potenti al agents of change. A comprehen si ve study o f both rati onal e s and of so ci al protag oni st s woul d hel p to pa ve the wa y fo r ne w fo rm s of organi za ti on capabl e of changing social reali ty. T hi s i nve sti gati on woul d i n no way di mi ni sh the hi sto ri cal rol e of c api tal as th e maj o s i n st rume nt of e conomi c mo de rni zati on i n the regi on, nor the rol e of the state a s an i nsti gator of capi tal i st i ni ti ati ves. Capi tal and the state a re fa r too i mportant i n our count ri e s to be o ve rlooked. To i gnore them may l eal to seri ous errors of anal ysi s and the implementati on of erroneous development poli cies and acti ons. S e l f-r e l i a n c e a n d P r o d u c ti o n o f K n o w l e d g e . H u m a n S c a l e Devel opment cal l s for a re st ructu ri ng of the way we pursue knowl edge i n order to create cri ti cal awareness throughout soci ety. T he cogni ti ve instruments needed to counteract the multipl e forms of dependence ust be made acce ssi bl e to all . Such a task requi re s thai the new i deas con front the dominant ones in the spaces where publi c pol i cies are const ru ct ed.T he refo re , i t is ne ce ssa ry to c oo rdi na te ac ti on i n o rde r t o guarantee that i deas are undcrstood and di scu ssed i n al l tho se domai ns and settings promoti ng people-centered devel opment. We requi re re sea rch l eadi ng to the creati on o f data ba se s capabl e of measuri ng and e val uati ng what i s rel evant l o Human Scal e Devel opment. It i s, therefo re, advi sabl e to modi fy the stati sti cal and qual i tati ve sy stem s o f i nf orma ti on i n su ch a w ay tha t they refl ec t the st ru ctu ral heterogenei ty and psycho y cul tural speci fi ci ti es of the di ffe rent regi on s and, abo e al l, the potenti al that underli es thi s di versi ty. It i s necessa ry to encourage popul ar parti ci pati on i n the producti on of rel evant i nformati on. T hi s wi l l requi re, on
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the one hand, redesi gni ng our re sea rch methodol ogi e s and practi ce s i n su ch a wa y that they no t onl y make i nformati on avail able to the
peopl e, but al so i nsure that i t i s rel evant to thei r interests. T hi s type of data must be generated through parti cipatory practi ces and widel y accepted communi ty sel f-di agnosi s techni ques. It mi ght be app ropri ate to encou rage the c reati on of i dea ban ks at n a ti on al l ev el s a nd th en i n te rco nne c t th em th roug hou t t he L ati n Ameri can regi on. T hese banks woul d gather information on grassroots i ni ti ati ve s ai med al l ocal sel f-rel i ance. T hcy woul d al so col l ect i nfo rmati on on the use o f non-conven ti onal re sou rc e s (see On Re sou rce s, p age 76 ), and on techn ol ogi e s and pu bl i c pol i ci e s condu ci ve to the promoti on of the ideas of Human Scal e Devel opment. It i s advi sabl e to modi fy the educati onal curri cul a in the centers of hi gher l earni ng so that they sy stemati cal l y consi der devel opment al tern a ti v e s, e sp e c i a l l y t he i r e p i st e mo l o gi c al , p rop o si t i o n al a n d me thodol o gi cal a spe ct s. T he t rai ni ng o f re sea rche rs i s e sse nti al to generate i nformati on cruci al to Human Scal c Development, and al so countera ct the t y ranny of reduc ti oni st i deol ogi es and the uni l ateral l y adopted views on the topi c of devel opment. It i s i mportant to i mprove the qual i ty of adul t educati on as wel l as the wo rk of devel opment promoters and acti vi st s so that i t may be consi stent wi th the obj ecti ves of communi ty parti cipati on, sel f-rel i ance and the sati sfaction of fundamental human needs. Moreover, post-graduare programs i n teachi ng and research shoul d be encouraged to emphasi ze the sy stemati za ti on of the probl em s that a ri sei n conne cti on wi th the q ue st fo r de vel opment al te rnati ve s i n ou r count ri e s. Fi nal l y, i t i s ad - vi sabl e to organi ze a net wo rk of cl o sel y l i n ked re sea rch and trai ni ng centers i n ordc r to create a sy stem of permanent feedback that may con-tri bute to the desi gn of a new development paradigm.
On Micro- or ganizations Micro-organizations in the Invisible Sectors

One of the most remarkabl e mani festa ti on s of the i nvi si bl e worl d i s the wi de spectrum of mi cro - enterpri ses and other small
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economi c organi zati ons whi ch operate i n the empty spaces l eft by the capi tali st market. The rational e that characteri zes these mi cro- organi zations may be determi ned by such factors as the need to survi ve in a si tuation of acute cri si s, the l ack of opportuni ti es offered by the modem market economy or a conscious deci si on to adopt an al ternati ve to employment i n the formal sector of an economy governed by i ts own i nternal di scipline, hi erarchy and tradi ti on. The rationale governing mi cro-organi zations i s based onl y partial l y on the capi tali st principl e of accumul ation through profit. Heterogeneity of Micro-organizations. Often these economi c mi cro- organi zati ons are subordinated to modem capi tali sm. Nonethel ess, thei r di versity, together with thei r al ternati ve rationale, di sti ngui shes them from the enterpri se s of the modem sector that operate s on capitali st principl es i n i ncreasi ngl y oli gopoli sti c markets. Some studies have indi cated that the structures through whi ch these mi cro-organi zations operate generate l ow producti vi ty and low incomes. Thi s renders the jobs performed in such non-i nsti tutionali zed sectors unattracti ve except to the poorl y quali fi ed, and to those who for other reasons (the handi capped, mi grants, women, etc.) have li mited access to the formal labor market. There are instances, however, where mi cro-organi zati ons have emerged as deli berate al ternati ves to sal aried empl oyment, or as a defense mechani sm against an envi ronment that i s socially and poli ti - call y hostile. In such cases, the prevailing moti vation mi ght be solidarity expressed through a new soci al experi encethat i s, work as a creati ve endeavor and not j ust as a survi val strategy. The heterogeneity of the sector i s mul ti -dimensi onal; there i s a great di versi ty of acti vi ti es performed, of methods of marketing goods and servi ces and of ways of organi zi ng work (indi vidual micro-uni ts, cooperati ves, famil y enterpri ses and so on). Lack of Stabili ty of Micro-organizations. Another feature of mi cro- organi zations i s thei r instabi lity demonstrated by thei r hi gh bi rth and death rates. Such organi zations face seri ous diffi cul ti es in survi ving due to such factors as the si ze of the market, l ocati on, structure of costs, opportuni ties for entering into a competi ti ve market, the potenti al for di versi fyi ng sources of i nputs and raw materi al s, the capaci ty to
avoi d dependence on a few buyers (especi all y mi ddlemen), access l o credi t and the li ke. These constrai nts, whi ch determine whether mi cro- organi zations are able to reproduce themsel ves, may be overcome wi th the hel p of assi stance programs sponsored by publi c or pri vate agencies. A new concept of economi c and soci al resource management (see On Resources bel ow), along wi th an al ternati ve view of the process of development, makes i t possi bl e to mi nimi ze the dependent, unstabl e and random character of the mi cro-organi zations of soci eties whi ch, li ke those of Lati n Ameri ca, show a great structural heterogeneity. In the absence of a new vi sion, the life span of most of the economi c mi cro-organi zati ons wi ll be short and they will be characteri zed by li mi ted peri ods of accumul ati on fol lowed by frustrated attempts at growth. Al though i t seems paradoxi cal , these experi ences, i nherent i n the invi sible worl d, represent a potenti al alternati ve to the scourge of unemployment. Since the modem sectors of the economy wil l not be abl e to sol ve the negati ve effects of the cri si s by themsel ves, the need to support and stimulate these mi cro-organi zations becomes obvi ous. Micro-organizations and Macro-policies. In order to secure the development and the continui ty of these organi zations, the rol e of the state becomes fundamental . T he state can undermi ne thei r exi stence ei ther by negl ect or by the repressi on of soci al movements whi ch, origi nati ng wi thi n the mi cro-organi zati ons, tend l o form al liances wi th other sectors of ci vil soci ety i n the struggle to regai n the power concentrated i n the state. T herefore, to promote mi cro-organi zations, emphasi s must be gi ven to structural changes and to an organi c arti cul ati on between the mi cro and macro level s of soci ety. T he socio-poli ti cal and economi c impact of the mi cro-organi zations compri si ng the invi si bl e world will depend on thei r capaci ty to relate to the whol e of the society. Furthermore, thei r eventual influence will al so depend on whether they li mi t themsel ves to organi zing survi val strategi es or, whether i n addi tion and by means of these strategies, they become the embryos of an alternati ve form of devel opment.
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Li mit ation s a nd Pote nti al s of the Micro-organizations

It woul d be absurd to i denti fy Human Scal e Development, i n i ts broader sense, with onl y the invi si bl e worl d, and even more so with a sub-di vi sion of these, whi ch we call economi c mi cro-organi zations. We should, however, try to identi fy wi thin these units the embryos of di f- ferent forms of social organi zation of producti on and work, whi ch could be i ncorporated i nto new styl es of development. One of the mani festati ons of the economi c and social cri si s affecti ng the countries of the region i s the probl ematique of the invi si bl e worl d. Hence, they play a cri ti cal rol e i n the search for poli ci es and programs to overcome the cri si s. Even though alternati ves to the exi sti ng order may have thei r ori gins i n some mi cro-soci al spaces of the i n- vi si ble world (anti -authoritarian spaces whi ch combi ne an economy, a cul ture and a poli ti cal will ), thei r transformati on i nto viable al ternati ves affecti ng the gl obal si tuati on will depend on the i dentifi cation of, and support for, those protagoni sts and those soci al organi zati ons capabl e of putti ng thei r vi si on into practi ce. T herefore, the question of i nvi si bil ity has to be i ncl uded in the problematique of the transiti on to new forms of soci al organi zati on. In thi s regard, we must not overl ook the fact that certain experi ences associ ated wi th the invi si ble world are provi ng to be perfectl y capable of survi vi ng the cri si s from whi ch they ori gi nated i n the fi rst place. Whatever the structure that defines the i nvi si bl e world, the poli tical beari ng of these on the rest of society wi ll al so depend on the creati vity of the persons i nvol ved. In other words, i n order to foster structural changes, i t i s necessary to separate wi thi n the i nvi si ble world the mere mechani sms of resi stance to the cri si s from mechani sms whi ch are moti vated by a search for greater autonomy. The l atter may eventuall y contribute to a more l asting structure and i nspi re the creati on of new devel opment strategi es. Self-relia nce as a Socio-ec on omic Pr ocess. T he degree of sel f-rel iance that popul ar organi zati ons may reach i n thei r
operation and management i s di rectl y determi ned by the, way i n whi ch such organi zati ons i nsert themsel ves and parti cipate i n the market. We
must acknowl edge, however, that absolute self-reli ance i s utopi an. What i s both desi rable and possi bl e i s the achievement of increasing degrees of sel f- reli ance. In other words, sel freliance will be determined by the way i n whi ch the mi cro-organi zations relate to other soci al actors and organi zati ons. Since self-rel iance i s forged through these connections, it must be understood as a process defi ned by a sy stem of rel ati onships. If, as a consequence of the cri si s, many popular economi c organizati ons attempt to construct practi ces of sel f- management, thi s consti tutes an i mportant step toward sel f-reli ance as wel l as greater autonomy. It i ndi cates that groups and communi ties have the will to exert control over thei r own condi tions of li fe. It i s i n thi s sense that these mi cro-organi zations are the embryos of Human Scale Devel opment. T hey represent a potenti al for the transformation of economi c and social rel ationshi ps basi c to the constructi on of a democrati c cul ture. All thi s must, of course, go hand in hand wi th the avail abi li ty of resources that l ead to the generati on of economi c surpluses and thus all ow for the reproducti on and growth of these organi zati ons. Challenges for the State. A permanent threat to mi cro-organi zati ons wi shi ng to attain greater level s of sel f-reliance and autonomy are the coopti ve strategies of the state, pol iti cal parties and other i nstitutions whi ch operate accordi ng to a logi c of power. Economi c mi cro-organizations and social movements i n general are frequentl y neutrali zed by a pol iti cal l andscape dominated by pyramidal structures i n whi ch struggles for hegemony are constantl y taki ng pl ace. T he probl em of cooptati on i s cri ti cal i n shaping the arti culati ons between local organi zations and global processe s. Cooptati on i s achieved through the identifi cati on and political manipulation of the social actors. T hi s i nvariabl y l eads not onl y to a loss of thei r i dentity, but al so to acti ons that ul timatel y defeat thei r endogenous obj ecti ves. Wi thi n these dynami cs, the system of rel ations establi shed between the mi cro-organi zati ons and the macro-structures of power eventuall y resul t i n mi cro-organi zations l osi ng control over thei r own resources and thei r own desti ny. The di rection of these articulati ons depends to a great extent on the i deol ogy of the state. Withi n the context of authori tari an and anti democrati c poli ti cal processes, publi c resources are di stributed wi th
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Human Scale Development stri ngs attached. T hey are aimed at i nducing the recipi ent communi ties to adopt parti cular types of behavi or or perform actions whi ch the state consi ders conveni ent for the establ i shed social and poli ti cal order. In the case of a merel y representati ve democracy, the all ocation of publi c resources occurs wi thi n poli ci es of social reform i ntegral to an i deologi - cal perspecti ve whi ch al so conditions the functi oning of mi cro-organi zati ons and of soci al movements, thus undermini ng thei r capaci ty for autonomy and sel f-reliance. However, it i s obvious that a representati ve democracy presents more favorabl e condi ti ons for the coexi stence of mul ti ple soci o-cul tural identities than authori tari ani sm does. In any case, democrati c poli ti cal acti vi ty, together wi th an economi c system that allocates resources according to the real needs of the di fferent soci al groups, are indi spensabl e requi rements for the propagation of Human Scal e Devel opment.
Development and Self-reliance economi c organi zati ons.
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On Re source s Re source s for Se lf-reliance

In implementi ng concrete poli ci es aimed at Human Scal e Devel opment i n Lati n Ameri ca, a deci si ve step i s the strengtheni ng of l ocal organi zati ons that operate wi th an anti -authori tari an rati onal e (sol idary, synergi c, parti cipatory) and i ncreasi ng self-rel iance. If such "organi zati onal embryos" can be strengthened, i t will be possi ble to lessen the ri sk of cooptation of the mi cro by the macro, and increase the per- meabili ty of the macro by the mi cro. A poli cy that promotes resources for local development (whi ch impli es decentrali zati on and parti cipati on) and from the l ocal organi zations i s the cornerstone of structural transformation "from the bottom upwards." T o thi s end, i t i s necessary to exami ne the probl em of resources wi thin small economi c organi zati ons, to evaluate cri ti cal ly the conventi onal concepts of resources, to seek al ternati ve ways of mobil i zing fi nancial resources and, above all , to consi der the importance of nonconventional resources for l ocal devel opment and, in parti cul ar, for the devel opment of smal l
Work as a Multi-resource
When anal yzi ng a producti ve uni t i n order to evaluate i ts effi ciency and its method of organi zati on, the orthodox paradi gm of economi c theory, based on the concept of production functi ons, advocates that the flow of production duri ng a gi ven period of time depends (among other things) on the stock of capital and on the use of a certai n amount of work, both combined i n a gi ven proporti on. From thi s i t foll ows that both work and capi tal are mere factors of producti on, that i s to say, i n- puts for the producti ve process. Wi thi n such a perspecti ve nothi ng, i n a formal sense, makes a machi ne di fferent from human work, whi ch i s purchased in the market j ust as other goods are si nce i t has a pri ce (wages) and i s subj ect to the free play of suppl y and demand. Economi c theory's primiti ve interpretation of work and capi tal as homogeneous was superseded by the so-call ed "Controversy of Capital " or "Cambri dge Controversy." T he i dea of homogenei ty was transcended by the "Theory of Human Capi tal ." Yet, i n the new version, human work appea rs re st ri cted to the pro ce ss o f acc rui ng capi tal through i nvestments i n educati on and traini ng. Apart from bei ng objecti onabl e on ethi cal grounds, thi s theory contains a conceptual sophi sm by vi rtue of whi ch the workers appear, to a certain extent, as capi tali sts. Over and above thi s reducti oni sm, these notions omi t a set of resources that are work-rel ated and whi ch hi stori cal experi ence compel s us to consi der. Work constitutes much more than a factor of producti on: i t fosters creati vi ty, mobili zes soci al energy, preserves communal identity, depl oys sol i dari ty and utili zes organi zati onal experi ence and popular knowl edge for the sati sfacti on of indi vi dual and coll ecti ve needs. Work has, then, a quali tati ve di mensi on whi ch cannot be accounted for ei ther by i nstrumental model s of anal ysi s or by economi c manipulati ons of producti on functions. Wi thi n the framework of the current cri si s, the qual itati ve di mensi on of work becomes all the more evi dent i n those acti vi ti es that are undertaken by many mi cro-organi zati ons. T hey are intangi ble el ements 1101 measurabl e or definable i n units comparable wi th
those used for the
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Human Scale Development conventi onal factors of producti on. Li nked to a broader concept of work, these resources have a deci sive role in compensating the scarcity of capital with quali tati ve el ements for the increase of producti vi ty. Un- derstood as a force whi ch mobi li zes soci al potenti ali ti es, work, more than just a resource, i s a generator of resources. A reconceptuali zati on of resourceswork i ncl udedi s both necessary and viable. It enabl es us to overcome one-dimensi onal vi ews, whi ch tend to subordi nate devel opment to the exclusi ve logi c of capi - tal. The new concepts to whi ch we have made reference, and the choi ce of al ternati ves for generati ng re source s, requi re two fundamental aspects to be consi dered. Both wi ll be exami ned in the fol lowing sections. T he fi rst i s rel ated to non-conventional resources, and the second to fi nanci al al ternati ves for l ocal devel opment.
Development and Self-reliance i s compl emented wi th such acti vi ti es as commu nal
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Non-conventional Re source s
Non-conventi onal resources are important not onl y for the survi val of mi cro-organi zati ons, but al so for the consti tuti on and development of soci al movements i n di fferent countri es of Lati n Ameri ca. We find exampl es i n the Popular Economi c Organi zati ons i n Chile (PEO), i n the grassroots Chri sti an communi ties of Brazil , in the organi zati ons of squatter settl ements in Peru, i n youth and women's movements, nati ve peopl es associ ations, ecologi cal groups and so forth. Anal ogous organi zations exi st in all the countri es of the regi on, and are made up of peopl e who have decided to muster thei r energies to share the task of sati sfyi ng thei r fundamental needs through the constructi on of col lecti ve li fe projects. T here are many cases of mi cro-organi zati ons that are created not onl y to overcome the absence of work opportuni ties i n the more modem sectors of the economy, but al so to come up wi th deli berate al ternati ves both to ali enation and to the hi erarchi cal organization of work di ctated by capi tal i sm, in factori es, offi ces and i n other organi zed servi ces. A good number of these organi zations devote themsel ves to economi c acti vi ties whi ch guarantee thei r sel freproducti on, while al so promoting soci al , cul tural and recreati onal acti vities. Producti on and marketi ng of goods and servi ces
house-buil ding projects, organi c farming in small famil y pl ots, cooking communi ty meal s i n "common pots," collective purchasing, popular theater and others. Beyond Economic Resources. The resources that such movements and organi zati ons avail themsel ves of i s not limited to those that are conventionall y understood as economi c resources. Whil e the latter are restri cted to work wi th its di fferent characteri sti cs, as well as to capital, other possi ble resources are:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Soci al awareness; Organi zational know-how and manageri al abil ity; Popular creati vi ty; Sol idari ty and abili ty to provide mutual ai d; Experti se and training provi ded by supporting agencies; Dedi cati on and commi tment from internal and external agents.
It i s necessary to stress a very special pecul iari ty that di sti ngui shes conventi onal from non-conventional resources. Whil e the former are depleted when used, the l atter are l ost onl y to the extent to whi ch they are not used. For i nstance, power that i s reli nqui shed i s power that i s lost, money that i s gi ven i s money we no longer have, whereas soli dari ty that i s shared with others i s sol idari ty that grows, knowl edge that i s transmi tted i s knowl edge that expands i tself. Non-conventional resources enabl e development to take place that goes far beyond the noti on of accumulati on (whil e includi ng i t), si ne it i s al so based on the acqui si tion of practi cal knowl edge generated by the communi ty i tsel f. Such an accumul ation of knowl edge expands, in turn, the potentiali ty of the resources themsel ves. Another di sti ncti ve trait of these resources (and one whi ch reverses the usual economi sti c perspecti ves) i s that unli ke conventional economic resources, whi ch are characteri zed by scarci ty, non-conventi onal resources are pl enti ful . T hey al so have a tremendous capaci ty to preserve and transform soci al energy for processe s of deep change. Complementarity of Conv entional and Non-conv entional Resources. T he use of non-conventi onal resources, such as
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those li sted above, not onl y stimul ate sel f-rel iance, but al so i nsure a better performance of conventi onal resources, especi al l y of capi tal. T hi s i s l ustrated by the experi ence of many l ocal proj ects undertaken i n Lati n Ameri ca with the support of i nternational organi zati ons. Unfortunatel y, a great number of proj ects, whi ch have all the necessary fi nanci al support, vani sh into thin ai r because of thei r inabili ty to moti vate people and to arouse the endogenous potenti al of the groups that they i ntend to benefit. Hence, any conventional resource whi ch i s not supported in the community by a "wil l to be" and a "will to do"that i s to say, by the emergence of non-conventi onal resources whi ch the community deci des to mobil i zewill end up coll apsi ng. T hi s reconceptuali zation of resources not onl y widens the opti ons that are possi bl e i n matters of poli ci es and planning; i t al so underli nes the fact that the main agent of transformati on i s the capaci ty of the human being to acti vate hi s or her sensi ti vi ty, imagi nation, voli tion and i ntellectual talent in an effort that extends i tsel f from personal development to soci al development thereby generati ng a process of i ntegrati on of the indi vidual and the coll ecti ve. It i s preci sel y thi s synergi c capaci ty of non-conventi onal resources whi ch make them indi spensabl e for Human Scal e Devel opment. And it i s because of thei r hi storical and cul - tural dimensi on that a poli cy of usi ng non-conventi onal resources i s much more than an economi c poli cy. N o n -c onv e n ti o na l Res o ur ces De m oc rac y. an d S oci al
Any al ternati ve that aims to achi eve Human Scal e Development wi ll necessari l y entail a poli cy of acti vating non-conventi onal resources. Thi s forces us to meet a great ideol ogical chall enge, namel y, to
T hese resources wi ll be important i nstruments for transformati on when they are rooted i n the communi ti es and "stored" i n thei r hi stori cal and cul - tural tradition. It i s the communi ty whi ch can enhance these resources and make the use of them vi able because they are inherent i n i t. T hus, t he st ren gtheni n g o f non -con ven ti onal re sou rces al s o i n vol ve s t he strengthening of communi ty parti ci pati on and of sel freli ance. T o the non-conventional resources menti oned, we may add other analogous ones that fl ow from hi stori cal -anthropol ogi cal contexts as well as the soci al structures that i nclude soci al networks, col lecti ve memory, cul tural identity and worl d views.
advance al ong the li nes of:
versus centrali zation than acqui res great si gni fi cance for Human
1.
Identi fying and making use of favorabl e hi stori cal ci rcumstances in order to multi ply the i niti ati ves which ci vil soci ety creates to manage the avail able resources in a new way. 2. Identifyi ng and broadeni ng those soci al spaces whi ch contain a greater potenti al i n terms of non-conventional resources. 3. Identi fying and moti vating soci al actors capabl e of using these resources for structural changes conduci ve to Human Scal e Development.
Alte rnatives for Local Financing

T he conventional financial sy stem has nei ther adjusted i tsel f to promote l ocal development, nor provi ded any support to alternati ve experiences of economi c organi zation. T hi s i s part of a poli ti cal context that needs to be cri ti call y revi ewed. T hi s revi ew i s all the more important when we become aware of the economi c cri si s which the countries of the region are undergoi ng. Stabili zati on poli cies aimed at sol vi ng the problems of i nternal imbal ances and external indebtedness were undermined by i rresponsi ble l endi ng by the i nternati onal system of pri vate finance, the powerful economi c groups and the state. Far from hel ping our countries to devel op, these processes preci pi tated a profound economi c and soci al cri si s whi ch has no precedent i n the hi story of Latin Ameri ca. A fact that shoul d not be overl ooked i s that channel ing huge funds to both the powerful economi c groups and the state rei nforced a cri si s whi ch further impoveri shed all those sectors that have tradition- all y been excl uded, i n social, economi c and poli ti cal terms, from the hi stori cal process of economi c expansi on. One of the mai n problems i n relati on to local fi nanci ng i s the ab- normal enl argement and centrali zation of the state i n Lati n Ameri ca. More resources woul d be avail able to promote sel f-rel iance of local spaces i n many countries of the regi on i f tax, monetary and fi nanci al reforms were undertaken. Thi s woul d all ow publ i c and pri vate resources to be rel ated more di rectl y to local needs and to the less favored groups i n the populati on. T he di scussi on about decentrali zation
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Human Scale Development Scal e Development. In thi s manner, the rol e of the state i s redefi ned as an all ocator of resources to favor development geared to strengtheni ng l ocal spaces. T he fi nanci al i nsti tuti ons that may be concerned wi th l ocal financ- i ng of Human Scale Development must state goal s and forms of operati on going far beyond conventional principl es. In the fi rst pl ace, these i nstituti ons must promote local creati vi ty and support community i ni ti ati ves that are organi zed through sol idary, hori zontal and equi tabl e rel ationships. Second, they must encourage the greatest possi ble ci rcul ation of money at the l ocal l evel . Thi s means attracti ng l ocal l y generated surpl uses and maki ng them ci rculate as many times as possi ble wi thin the local space, thus i ncreasing the mul ti pli er effect of a gi ven l evel of deposi ts and savings. T hi rd, these i nsti tuti ons must adj ust themsel ves so that the savers, or the generators of surpl uses, may deci de on the use of thei r resources, thus al lowing for a greater transparency i n the rel ati onship between saver and i nvestor that may, in turn, promote greater parti cipation i n acti vi ties devoted to maki ng development alternati ves i n the local space more viabl e. Fourth, these financi al i nsti tuti ons must be managed i n a cooperati ve way by peopl e i n the community i tself, whi ch means that the management shoul d al so be l ocal i n origin. Fi nall y, i f the local fi nanci al i nsti tuti on i s to gai n credibi li ty, i t must be protected against any potenti al l iqui di ty cri si s. T hi s protecti on could be provided by an organization such as a Central Bank or any other sound publi c banking agency. In terms of the above, i t i s necessary that the banking system i n Lati n Ameri ca should adopt a new orientati on whi ch may broaden i ts concept of funding. In thi s way, it coul d overcome restricti ve practi ces, doi ng away with the conservati ve barri ers whi ch demand guarantees i n property o r col l ateral as an i ndi spen sabl e condi ti on of any l oans granted. Wi thout reduci ng thei r autonomy, l ocal banks should al so be re- l ated to the nati onal and i nternational financi al systems. With regard to the l atter, one could think of creating a Latin Ameri can regional bank, the pri mary function of whi ch would be to support l ocal financing. Such a bank, regional i n character, could be concei
Development and Self-reliance ved as a cooperati ve i n- sti tuti on composed of l ocal banks. Another form of local financing i s barefoot bauki ng is
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Thi s
a mechani sm whi ch i s generall y connected wi th some offi ci al financi al i nstitution. Its objecti ve i s that of all ocati ng resources to activities undertaken by local groups whi ch otherwi se would have no access to funding from any other banki ng instituti on, ei ther public or pri vate. The system has many variations but, i n general, i t operates through the identi fi cation of investment opportuni ti es carried out by especi all y trained people who li ve wi thi n the communi ty. Such agents choose acti vi ties according to thei r sui tabili ty to local conditions and thei r potential for development. In these cases, support i s adapted to the real possi bi liti es of the local project, instead of the proj ect having to adapt i tself to exi genci es of the fi nanci al market. Local financi ng al so requi res that the funding i nstitution i tself (or any other publi c or pri vate agency) shoul d provi de, if necessary, techni cal support to organi ze and undertake proj ects whi ch will avail themsel ves of the economi c opportuniti es to be found in the local space. Thi s requi rement should not be understood as a formal one, but as an i nstrument to enable the viabili ty of the effort to be asse ssed and to improve external support. In the case of the Grameen Bank Project in Bangladesh, the l oans generated savings, whi ch i s fai rl y unusual . What usuall y happens i s the opposi te, namel y, that savings generate credi t. T he rel ation between savi ngs and l oans has been the subj ect of new proposal s in recent reports. It has been advocatedi n the li ght of the problems Paced by the poorer communi ti es see ki ng al ternati ve forms of devel opment that the mobili zati on of savi ngs, combined with l oans at the l ocal level , i s one of the most i mportant means to promote the devel opment of the community. On the other hand, there are experi ences that show that the i nformal sector has a great potenti al for generating savings and that thi s potenti al has scarcel y been expl ored. The savings institutions i n the local spaces emerge, then, as important agenci es for the support of al ternati ve experi ences, parti cularl y i f they are cooperati ve and restri ct themsel ves to small geographi cal spaces, thus taking up the role of popular banks. In order to gi ve greater consi stency to l ocal devel opment, these i nsti tuti ons must al so: (1) have a decentrali zed structure; (2) relate, in the closest possi ble way, the generation of savings to local credi t needs; and (3) overcome or find alternati ve ways of
usual demands of guarantees for grarlting credit.
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Autonomy and Macro-policie s

It i s essenti al to desi gn poli cies to support the devel opment of the invi si ble sectors by means of trai ning programs, credi t and techni cal assi stance to small producers, favoring i n parti cular those mi cro-organi zati ons that are capable of deci ding on and managi ng thei r proj ects by themsel ves in a col lecti ve and soli dary manner. Li kewi se, trai ni ng programs, credit and techni cal assi stance must have the fundamental objecti ve of increasi ng the capacity of mi cro-organi zati ons and community groups to exerci se control over the goods and servi ces requi red to reduce poverty, enhance the quali ty of life and improve habi tat and envi ronment, thus sti mulati ng sel f-reli ance i n the communities, muni cipali ti es and regions. It woul d al so be appropriate to encourage the appl i cati on of devel opment strategies which acknowledge and respect the di versity of reali ties and of forms of organi zati on that characteri ze Latin Ameri ca at the l ocal , regi onal and national l evel s and thus transform di versi ty i nto a promoter of development. Thi s must i nvol ve a systemati c effort to deconcentrate poli ti cal power so that i t can be exerci sed i n a more egali tari an way in the di fferent domai ns of soci ety, thus ensuri ng adequate consideration of l ocal and regi onal i nterests. Fi nal l y, there i s an urgent need to research ways of fundamental l y restructuri ng the fi nancial and banki ng systems wi thi n our countries i n such a way that they contri bute to devel opment not onl y in gl obal terms, but al so speci fi call y in the regional , muni ci pal and communi ty spaces, gi vi ng speci al emphasi s to the potenti al for sel f-reliance in l ocal organi zati ons. In thi s connecti on, we must consi der the creati on of local banks (not branches of national banks) that sti mul ate communi ty savi ngs and the ci rculati on of surpluses i nsi de the communi ti es which generate them.
Re capitulation Challe nge s and Alternative s

Human Scal e Development, geared to the sati sfacti on of human needs, attai ns through sel f-rel iance its true and i rreduci ble value. At a practi cal l evel , opting for thi s ki nd of devel opment requi res as an i niti al i mpul se a poli cy for mobil i zing ci vil soci ety. In order to promote structural changes, the mobili zati on must meet two challenges. Fi rst, i t must sti mul ate the use of non-conventional resources i n setting up col - l ecti ve li fe projects ai med at achi eving sel f-rel iance and the actuali zati on of human needs. Second, i t must support and strengthen local devel opment ini ti atives so that thei r infl uence overcomes spatial limitations and contributes to the constructi on of a new hegemony i n the nati onal domai n. If the di fferent l ocal mi cro-spati al practi ce s a re to become a new social reali ty, they must be arti culated wi thin a project that call s for gl obal development. Hence, the deci si ve poli ti cal importance of the mi cro-macro arti cul ation. The fundamental i ssue i s to enabl e peopl e from thei r many small and heterogeneous spaces to set up, sustain and develop thei r own proj ects. C h al le ng es Wi thi n the P ol i tic al S ph ere . T he e xi sti ng pol i ti cal structures are faced wi th the challenge of recogni zing and regai ning the weal th of dynami sm contained i n the social movements of the invi si ble worl d i n order to i ntegrate them as si gni fi cant, rather than resi dual , protagoni sts i n a new proj ect for soci ety. In the present ci rcumstances, owi ng to such factors as economi c and soci al margi nal i zati on and the i neffi ci ency of conventi onal poli ti cal practi ces, we wi tness wi th i ncreasing frequency responses of social struggle whi ch do not match the tradi ti onal patterns of poli ti cal activity. A wi llingness to set up groups and organi zati ons wi th informal nonbureaucrati c structures, to parti ci pate i n coll ecti ve forms of deci si on- maki ng and to be pragmati c, rather than ideologi cal , in setting obj ecti ves are al l trai ts whi ch poli tical insti tutions seeki ng to redefi ne themsel ves should take i nto account.
Such a redefi ni tion compel s these i nsti tutions to develop mechani sms for shari ng i n deci si ou-maki ng, to combi ne i deol ogi cal and strategi cal requi rements wi th those of a more practi cal and ethi cal nature and to
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engage i n a revi tali zed dial ogue expressed i n terms of needs fel t and mobi li zed by the communities themsel ves. Articulation Without Coop tation. A cri ti cal probl em i s that of the si ze of an organization, since thi s i s not unrelated to the system of values that can be generated wi thi n i t. Smaller organi zations have the scope to devel op internal hori zontal rel ati onshi ps of greater sol idari ty and l ess constrai ned by i deol ogy. However, they l ack the capacity to promote gl obal al ternati ves. Wi thin thi s context, the central probl em for the devel opment al ternati ve we seek i s how to build up the movement but avoi d bureaucrati zation or, to put i t another way, how to achi eve arti cul ation w ithout cooptati on. Thi s chall enge i s unresol ved, and can onl y be sol ved through the i nteraction between social theory and praxi s. If the problem i s not dealt with, Human Scal e Development wi ll be restricted to a mechani sm that favors peopl e in the mi cro-soci al spaces, thus perpetuating in the l arger spaces an order that excludes the mass of the people and, eventuall y, reduces thi s al ternati ve to a mere idea whi ch cannot be put into practi ce more wi del y. Onl y a development style that aims to sati sfy human needs can take up the postponed chall enge to sti mul ate the growth of all men and women, and of thei r enti re personal iti es. Onl y increasi ng sel f-rel iance i n the di fferent spaces and domai ns can gi ve root to such devel opment on the Lati n Ameri can continent. Onl y absol ute respect for the di versi ty of the m any worlds that make up the wide world of Latin America wi ll ensure that autonomous development i s not restri cted to the realm of utopi a. Onl y the arti cul ation of these di versi ties i n a democrati c project committed to deconcentration and decentrali zati on of politi cal power can release the combi ned energi es needed to bring about development that i s trul y desi gned for human bei ngs.
NOTE
1. Jacobo Schatan, Worl d Debt: Who l s to Pay? London: Zed Books, 1987.
4. THE UNRESOLVED PROBLEM OF MICRO-MACRO ARTICULATION
Manfred Max-Neef
See Solutions
king
T he probl em of mi cro-macro arti cul ation remains to be resol ved wi thin economi c theory and in development poli ci es as well . Indeed, a sati sfactory sol ution i s sti ll a long way off. It i s therefore legi timate to wonder whether i t i s i n fact a real probl em and, i f so, whether i t has a sol uti on. In consi deri ng thi s questi on, i t i s i mportant to be aware that the hi story of economic theory has i tself been a hi story of options rather than sol uti ons. The Ebb and Flow of Economic Theory. T he fi rst "worl d vi ew" of economi cs as a di sci pl ine as suchmercantili smwas a macro- economi c vi ew. The aftermath of the cri si s of mercantili sm determi ned that the three ensuing economi c revoluti ons, represented in successi on by the physi ocrats, the cl assi cal school and the neo-cl assi cal school , should correspond to mi cro-economi c vi ews, the di fferences among
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Human Scale Development them being i n the mai n determi ned by di vergi ng cri teria as to the noti on of val ue.* T he fourth revol uti onKeyne si ani sm agai n envi saged economi cs as macro-economi cs, and gave ri se, among many other contributions whi ch are diffi cul t to di scard, to be notion of aggregate i ndi cators. Post-Keynesians, neo-Keynesians and present-day monetari sts, no matter how much they endeavor to ri d themsel ves of thei r i mmedi ate past, are sti ll dwelli ng i n the macro-economi c abode that Keynes erected. But the very cri si s i tself once agai n restates the dil emma: Is economi cs mai nl y mi cro-economi cs or macroeconomi cs? In all li keli hood, an answer does not exi st. It i s quite possi ble that alter nearl y 400 years we may well conclude that the problem lies not i n the fact that we have not found an answer, but that we have been unable to pose the question properl y. T he theori es, pol i cies, strategies and devel opment styles that sprouted in the aftermath of the Second World War have been influenced or even determi ned by the prevaili ng economi c theory. If i t has been macro-economi c i n scope, devel opment has al so been understood as macro-devel opment, and the preferred indi cators for devel opment have been the aggregate indi cators of Keynesian macro-economi cs. T he probl em of mi cro-macro arti culati on, unresol ved by economi c theory, has therefore not met wi th a vi sibl e sol uti on in development processe s ei ther.
The U nresolv ed Pr ob lem of Mic ro -macr o Ar ticu lati on
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* T he neo- cl assicist s wor k with macr o- con cepts which however, are based on rather naive postulates.
The Proble m of Aggre gation

T he bewilderment whi ch characteri zes the current si tuati on becomes overt in the somewhat extreme debates and stands taken on the di fferent approaches. On the one hand, the economi sts from the neoAustri an School , commi tted to "methodol ogi cal indi vi duali sm," bol d that every type of behavi or can onl y be understood i n i ndi vi dual terms and that, consequentl y, there are no coll ecti ve enti ti es, such as communities, soci eti es and governments, the attributes of whi ch are
di ffe ren t f rom tho se o f i ndi vi du al s. Wi t h th e revi val o f "h omo economi cus," who acts rati onall y by resorting to the most effi ci ent means to attai n hi s goal s, it i s concluded that the new economi c theory shoul d restri ct itself speci ficall y to the only real and concrete l evel , that i s, the mi cro-economi c l evel. On the other hand, we come upon arguments that warrant the exi stence of both level s as real enti ti es. Such arguments stem from paradoxical fi ndi ngs sustai ned both in empi ri cal evi dence as wel l as i n mathemati cal demonstrati ons. In thi s sense, examples are offered to show that what each indi vi dual pursues as the best for himself can, at the aggregate l evel , rests i n a si tuati on that nobody desi res. From such evi dence i t i s concl uded that i ndi vi dual deci sions cannot be aggregated wi th the purpose of constructi ng a meani ngful totali ty. Over and beyond a gi ven cri ti cal threshol d, the aggregate consequences may eventuall y full y negate the indi vi dual i ntentions. A Dialectic Interpretation. Wi thout purporting to come up wi th an eclecti c soluti on, i t i s necessary to acknowledge, i n our opi nion, that there exi st sound and persuasive elements in the two arguments that we have chosen as extreme exampl es. It seems sensi bl e to admi t, on the one hand, that observabl e and understandabl e behavior does in fact occur at the l evel of the i ndi vi dual , that i s to say, at the mi cro-level . In much the same way, we woul d have to accept the factual exi stence of macro-si tuations , whi ch does not mean, however, that i t i s possi bl e to speak of macro-behavi or. A more suitable approach might be to suggest a di al ecti c i nteraction between macro-states and i ndi vi dual behavi ors i n such a way that even though they exert a reciprocal influence on each other, neither can be predi cted mechani call y merel y by observi ng i ts counterpart. In other word s, what we advoca te i s that a gi ven mac ro -sta te (pol i ti cal , economi c, envi ronmental , etc.) shoul d exert an infl uence on i ndi vi dual behavi or, and that the l atter, i n turn, should bri ng about changes i n macro-states. Si nce human systems are not mechani cal, the non-li near i nteracti ons between the mi cro-el ements of a system may gi ve ri se to various macro-states whi ch refl ect the interacti ons at the mi cro-l evel . T he impossi bi l i ty of maki ng mechani cal predi ctions about human systems compel s us to devote energy to deali ng wi th such noti ons
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The Un resolv ed Pr oble m o f Micr o -macr o A rticula ti on
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i nstabili ty, chance, uncertai nty, choi ce, threshol ds of di fferent types and catastrophes. From al l that has been suggested i t i s onl y possi bl e to arri ve at the c oncl u si on that e ven thoug h the re exi st s be tw een the mi c ro and the macro an i ndi ssol ubl e rel ati onshi p, i t i s nonethel ess true that i t i n no way invol ves an arti cul ation.* T hus, we are confronted wi th two fundamental questi ons: (a ) what woul d the mi cro-macro arti cul ati on i n i tsel f be? and (b) i s i t reall y possi ble to achieve i t? Mi c ro -ma c ro A rti cul a ti on . B y a rti c ul ati on we m ean , i n thi s c a se, that gl obal processe s and sel f-rel i ant mi cro-spati al proce sse s compl ement each other effecti vel y wi thout there bei ng a cooptati on of the mi cro by the macro. T hi s verti cal compl ementari ty i s al so seen in conj uncti on wi th a hori zontal compl ementari ty between the va ri ou s mi cro space s so that pro ce sse s of so ci o- cul tural i denti ty, pol i ti cal autonomy and economi c sel f-rel i ance are enabl ed to empower and rei nforce each other. T he abo e i s by no mean s a defi ni ti on. We are ful l y a wa re tha t i t i s, rather, a pi ctu re of "what ought to be." In thi s sen se, i t doe s not repre sent the si tuati on of observabl e Lati n Ameri can real i ty. Furthermore, on the basi s of accumulated evi dence, we can onl y concl ude that true mi cro-macro arti cul ati on i s not possi bl e wi thi n the economi c sy stems tha t cu rrentl y p redomi nate in our countri e s. T hi s concl u si on i s some what drasti c, but we consi der i t very di ffi cul t to confute. A ny po ssi bl e a rti cul ati on goe s f a r be yo nd t he cau sal i ti e s a nd m echa ni sti c a ssumpti o n s unde rl yi ng both e conomi c t heo ry an d the devel opment st rategi es appl i ed so far. It necessari l y and i nevi tabl y i nvol ve s a dcep t ran sfo rmati on i n the modos of soci al behavi or and i nteracti on. It requi res, i n practi ce, the tran sfo rmati on of the pe rson -obj ect i nto a person -subj ect and, i n theoreti cal tercos, that the competi ti ve rati onal e of maxi mi zi ng be repl aced by the sol i dary rati onal e of opti mi zi ng. In othe r wo rd s, t hat the "ho rno economi cu s" he repl aced by the "horno synergi cus."
y
* Ev ery articulation among elements is a relation, but not every relation is an articulation. See footnote in Chapter 1, page 8.
A r ti c u l a ti o n , P r o ta g o n i s ts a n d A n a r t i c u l a t e d s o c i e t y does not ari se mechani call y; i t i s con structed. It can onl y be constructed when peopl e act as protagoni st s, and thi s can onl y take pl ace i n human scal e space s, where the person has a real pre sence and i s not reduced to a stati sti cal ab st racti on. T he proce ss mu st be o rgani zed f rom the bot tom upwa rd s, but promoted b y peopl e who have mal l e the con sci ou s deci si on to act syne rgi cal l y. T he prog ram i s not si mpl e, but howe ver complex i t may be we envi sage no al ternati ve. What ha s been sugge sted become s po ssi bl e when a soci al sy stem capabl e of devel opi ng i ts capaci ty for adaptati on i s con stru cted: a sy s tem i n whi ch i nnovati on,novel ty and qual i tati ve change are organi c, e v en tho ugh the se may be un fo re seeabl e an d unp redi ctabl e . In thi s sen se, i t i s necessary to kcep i n mi nd that the capaci ty for adaptati on of a sy stem i s i nversel y propo rci onal to the degree of ri gi di ty of i ts st ruc ture. T hese ri gi di ti es shoul d be understood ei ther a s fo ssi l i zed hi era r- c h i e s, m a rke d so c i a l i ne q ua l i ti e s, a u t h o ri t a ri a ni sm o r i n e rt bu reauc ra ci e s. T he re fo re, real "p ro tagoni sm" and i nte rde penden ce, buil t from the gra ssroot s u pwa rd s to i t s supe rst ructu re, rcpre sent the onl y possi bil ity of preservi ng a fl exible structure capabl e of adapting i tse l f.
words: i t i s
Ar ticu la t ion and Sen se o f Dir ec tion of the System

T he Latin Ameri can panorama reveal s a set of deepl y di sarti culated so ci eti e s. Even i n pa st pe ri od s, i n whi ch count ri e s di spl ayed and su s tai ned hi gh rates of g rowth of thei r GNP, the di sarti eul ati on remai ned un sol ved . Ho we ve r, the mo st su stai ned of al l rato s of g ro wth i s the poverti es (a s defi ned wi thi n thi s book) wi thi n whi ch the great maj ori ty of Lati n Ameri cans struggl e. Many reasons have been offered to account for Chi s dramati c contradi cti on. It i s not our ai m to refute any of tho se argument s. We onl y wi sh to add another argument, whi ch ha s so far recei ved very l i ttl e attenti on. We state i t i n tercos of a hypothe si s: eve ry a pri ori di recti on imposed upon a di sarti cul ated soci o-economi c system further inhi bi ts i ts possi bi li ti cs of arti culati on. Stated in other
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not the i mposed di recti on whi ch will achieve arti cul ati on, but, on the contrary, i t will be arti cul ati on that determi nes the most desi rabl e di rection. If the current condi ti ons are taken i nto account, there i s hardl y any sense i n "forcing" the di recti on of a system. T he pri ori ty i s cl ear. What i s requi red i s to channel all efforts into bri ngi ng the parts of the system together i nto a coherent arti culated whol e. Onl y an arti cul ated system can aspi re to be a heal thy system. And onl y a heal thy system can aspi re to sel f-reli ance, to meeti ng the needs and ful fill ing the potenti al of people.
P A T T W O: FI R ST ST E PS I R NTOFURTHER REFLECT IONS 5. ABOUT THE PRUNING OF LANGUAGE (AND OTHER UNUSUAL EXERCI SES) FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF SOCIAL IM PROVEM ENT*
Manfred Max-Neef
The Proble m
Whil e trying to i nterpret the megacri si s that has taken over our present worl d, we suffer from a sort of general ized confusi on in our approach to understanding. Thi s means that there i s no way of breaki ng the code of the cri si s i f we are not abl e to adequatel y codify our own form of understanding. Al though we know how to descri be and how te explain, we seem to overlook the fact that descri bi ng pl us explaini ng do e s no t amount t o und e rs tandi ng .
* An earl ier v ersion of this chapter was p ublis hed u nde r the title of
"The Pruning of Language" in Dev elopment, 1988: 2/3, the journal of the Society f or International Development.
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Abou t the P ru nin g of La ng uage because there i s something wrong with power?" T oday, more than ever
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T he fo rme r ha ve t o do wi th knowledge, whi ch i s the stuff of sci ence, whil e the latter has to do with meani ng, the stuff of enli ghtenment. The resul t of thi s confusion i s that at thi s stage of hi story, we know a l ot but understand very li ttle.
because of recogni zed capaci ties and quali ti eswe may pose our questi on thus: "Are things goi ng wrong because i t i s the wrong group that i s i n power, or are things going wrong.
Manifestations of the Proble m

T he confusion in our approach to understanding reveal s i tsel f i n at l east three ways: (a) our i nvol vement wi th options of secondary relevance, (b) the utili zati on of simpli stic theories for the i nterpretation of soci al compl exi ty, and (c) the impoveri shment of our language.
Options of Se condary Re levance

We fight for opti ons. However, when after opting, things do not work out the way we expected, it may be due to the fact that the chosen option was, wi thout our being aware of i t, of secondary rel evance. Thi s means that there must be (and we must l ook for i t) an underl yi ng option of primary relevance that has to be tackled fi rst. A few ill ustrati ons may clari fy the point. Obsessed as we seem to be wi th power, we al ways believe that things wil l change (for the better, of course) once "we" are i n power (whoever that "we" may beoursel ves or those who represent our feel - i ngs and beli efs). T o believe somethi ng li ke thi s i s, of course, quite nai ve. If we l ook back i n time, we will reali ze that at thi s stage all sorts of powers, or combinations of powers, have al ready been i n power. Yet, as far as growi ng human sati sfaction and welfare are concerned, thi ngs do not seem to be i mprovi ng very much, all those past exerci ses of power notwi th standi ng. T he preoccupati on as to w ho shoul d be i n power i s, therefore, an opti on of secondary relevance. The underl ying questi on of primary relevance to be examined i s power i tsel f. If we understand i t as the capaci ty of control and manipulati on exerci sed by the person (or group) that has the force, and contrast i t wi th authori ty understood as the capaci ty of influence exerci sed by the person (or group) to whom l egi timacy i s granted
before in thi s century, thi s question demands an answer, and the answer consi sts of decidi ng whether or not we are wil ling to substi tute authori ty for power, and thus re-i nvent true democracy agai n. Authori ty as defi ned here can onl y function at the Human Scal e. In the midst of the New Internati onal Economi c Di sorder that has brought about the i nequi ty as well as the ini qui ty of T hi rd Worl d i ndebtedness, many countri es are again concerned wi th the problem of who should have control of the banki ng systemthe state, the pri vate sector or a combi nati on of both. T hi s i s, of course, an important matter. However, we shoul d ask: Are so many national fi nances i n di sarray be-cause there i s somethi ng wrong wi th those who control the banki ng system, or i s there somethi ng wrong wi th the banki ng system itsel f? Al though thi s questi on may j usti fy a whol e treati se, we recall here j ust a few financial debacl es characteri sti c of our present times. From the production of goods and servi ces, the dynami c edge of economi c acti vi ty has shi fted to paper transacti ons and specul ation. F utu re ma rke t s and spec ul ati on have beg un cont rol l i ng real producers and consumers such as the poor, and women, tri bal s and peasants i n the T hi rd Worl d, di spensi ng wi th them i f they do not i nto the market transactions of artifi ciall y created pri ces. Instead of a sustai nable reproduction of weal th, the global economi c system, l ed by commercial capi tali sm, has started to focus on instant weal th creati on through specul ation at the cost of the futureand of the poor. The decade of 1973-1982 has seen the escal ati on of capital fl ow from transnational banks and fi nanci al instituti ons to the Thi rd Worl d. Thi s phase of borrowi ng i s at the root of the contemporary Thi rd World debt cri si s. And thi s borrowi ng was i nduced to recycle the huge amounts of l iquidity that the fi nancial system of the North had buil t up and could not absorb. The T hi rd Worl d became an important source for i nvestment at hi gh profi tabil ity: profits of the seven bi g- gest U.S. banks roc keted from 22 percent i n 1970 to 55 percent in 1981, and to a record 60 percent in the following year. The South was caught i n a debt trap, borrowi ng merel y to pay interests on earli er l oans.1 In ol der days, economi c growth carne from producti on, whil e today weal th i s created from unproducti ve economi c fi cti ons. Not more than 5 percent of commodi ty transactions on future markets turn i nto actual exchange of goods. It goe s wi thout sayi ng that i t i s hi gh ti me that such a sy stem undergoes a
radi cal reconceptuali zati on, fitti ng the demands
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Abou t the P ru nin g of La ng uage
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and exi genci es of our worl d's present reali ty. For a long ti me, one of the most pressi ng options in Lati n Ameri ca has been that of dictatorshi p or poli ti cal democracy. It woul d seem out- rageous to say that thi s i s not a highl y rel evant opti on. Its i mportance notwi thstandi ng, a still more important opti on shoul d be brought to the fore. We may phrase i t thus: "Are the Lati n Ameri can societi es going to consolidate an authoritarian (and often repressi ve) cul ture, or are they capabl e of constructing a democrati c cul ture, that i s, a democracy of e veryda y l i fe?" In othe r wo rd s, a d emoc rac y that b egi n s i n the household and extends i tsel f to the school , to the worki ng pl ace, to the church, to the trade uni on, to the poli ti cal party; all concei ved as parti ci patory i nsti tuti ons, yet organi zed in a rigi dl y hierarchi cal and authoritari an manner. Thi s consi deration i s most certai nl y of primary relevance, because no poli ti cal democracy can expect to last if i t i s constructed upon the foundations of an authori tarian cul ture. It will col - l apse sooner or l ater, as we have so often wi tnessed. Di ctatorshi ps i n Lati n Ameri ca, even i n places li ke Uruguay and Chile, should not be di smi ssed as hi stori cal accidents affecti ng soci eties of l ong-standing democratic traditi ons. The truth of the matter i s that di ctatorshi ps are in many respects peri odi cal exacerbati ons of underl yi ng authori tarian cul - tures. Social Complexity and Simplistic Theories A si mpli sti c mi nd i s a mind full of answers. It i s al so a mind that sel dom reali zes the simple fact that answers must be preceded by perti nent questi ons. T he person wi th a si mpli sti c mi nd looks for i nspi rati on and knowledge in simpl i sti c theori es, mainl y in those that confi rm hi s or her preconcepti ons. Furthermore, he or she tends to be very acti ve. Hence, we are tal king about someone who can be very dangerous i ndeed. I have found many development experts in my li fehaving mysel f been one for many yearswi th a very si mpli sti c mind and a very acti ve personali ty. If I were to depi ct the archetype of such an expert in a comi c strip, presented would be a man wi th a somewhat perplexed expressi on i n hi s face, carryi ng a fat attache case ful l of answers, whi l e acti vel y l ooki ng for the probl ems to fi t the answers.
Quite apart from the cari catures we may devi se, the serious fact remains that while our soci eti es have become increasingly complex, our theori es of society, whether soci al or economi c, have become increasi ngl y si mpl i sti c. T hi s i s d ange rou s, b ecau se we kno w t hat the parameters of a system can onl y be controlled from a system of hi gher compl exity. In other words, through si mpli sti c theories and model s we cannot expect to understand the behavior of the type of soci al systems of whi ch we are members in our world today. T here are many exampl es of thi s, and a few shoul d suffi ce here. Fi rst of all i s the di sproportionate importance granted to economi cs, arti fi ci all y di sassoci ating i t from other human di sci pli nes such as pol i ti c s. In fa ct, pol i ti c s toda y seem s pri ma ri l y conce rned wi th economi c problems. Summits are mai nl y economi c summits, and macroeconomi cs seems to be the cathedral of modern mythology. There no longer appears to be any si gni fi cant probl ems of humani ty that remai n outside the realm of macroeconomi c mani pul ati on. Yet we seem to forget what macroeconomi cs i s all about and, more than that, what recent hi story can tel l us. Quoted bel ow i s a dramati c statement by the di stingui shed economi st Jane Jacobs: Macro-economi csl arge-scal e economi esi s the branch of l earni ng entrusted wi th the theory and practi ce of understanding and fosteri ng nati onal and i nternati onal economi es. It i s a shambl es. li s undoing was the good fortune of havi ng been bel ieved in and accepted in a big way. We think of the experi ments of partial physi ci sts and space expl orers as bei ng extraordi naril y expensi ve, and so they are. But the costs are nothing compared wi th the i ncomprehensi vel y huge resources that banks, i ndustri es, governments and internati onal insti tutions li ke the World Bank, the Internati onal Monetary Fund and the United Nations have poured i nto tests of macro-economi c theory. Never has a sci ence, or supposed sci ence, been so generousl y i ndul ged. And never have experi ments l eft in thei r wakes more wreckage, unpleasant surpri ses, bl asted hopes and confusi on, to the point that the question seri ousl y ari ses whether the wreckage i s repai rable; if i t i s, certai nl y not wi th more of the same.2 T he bel ief i n the effi ciency of certai n macro-economi c model s i s so i ntense, that one often wonders whether they have not become pan of a new form of religi on. As a matter of fact, we can witness over
and agai n that when an economi c poli cy based on a closer macro - economi c model fail s to deli ver, the reaction of the economi c establi shment behi nd
98
Human Scale Development that poli cy will be such that one can onl y reach the concl usion that while the model i s al ways right, i t i s reality that plays foul tri cks. Hence, the model not onl y remains, but i s reappl ied wi th greater vigor. The fasci nation wi th macro-economi c model s i s parti all y due to the fact that all thei r components are measurable. T hi s i s i mportant because for a simpli sti c mind, all that i s i mportant i s preci sely that whi ch can be measured. Therefore, one should no l onger be surpri sed that there are so many economi sts around who, i nstead of fi ndi ng sati sfacti on i n being more or l ess correct i n thei r predi ctions, prefer being wrong with hi gh preci sion. Another mani festation of si mpli sm i s what I should li ke to call "Northern thi nking for Southern acti on." If as a Latin Ameri can economi st I wi sh to become an expert i n Latin Ameri can development probl ems, i t i s necessary to study i n the Uni ted States or i n Europe to be respectable in the eyes of both my Southern and Northern coll eagues. It goes wi thout sayi ng that thi s i s not onl y dangerous but absurd. In fact, it has l ed to a systemati c inabili ty on the part of such "appropriatel y" educated economi sts to i nterpret thei r own reality. Just one example: In all economi c theories, begi nni ng wi th Cantill on and Adam Smi th and continuing wi th Ri cardo, Marx and all the way through Keynes and Phill ips (wi th hi s beauti ful curves), something identi fied in the modern j argon as stagflati on (i nfl ation wi th growing unempl oyment) si mpl y could not occur. It di d not fit any respectable economi c theory practi ced at the time of the phenomenon's appearance. Yet, at the end of the 1960s, it became qui te cl ear that suddenly in the United States i nflati on was no l onger trading off against drops in unempl oyment. T he i ni ti al reaction of most economi sts was that what seemed to be happeni ng was actuall y not happeni ng. Surel y al l would return to normal i f thresholds were readjusted. But reali ty was stubborn, and the growi ng evidences had to be accepted as a turni ng poi nt i n economi csactual l y the end of Keynesi ani sm fol lowed by the di sastrous emergence of the Fri ed- manian monetari sts. Now, if we j ust attempt to be simpli sti c, we may descri be stagfla- tion as a si tuation characteri zed by high and ri si ng pri ces together wi th i nsuffi ci ent jobs. Thi s i s surpri si ng, because that i s preci sel y
Abou t the P ru nin g of La ng uage
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one of the characteri sti cs that has prevail ed i n more countri es. Wi th Northern thinki ng (and wi th the ki nd o f by Southern economi sts as wel l ),
somethi ng li ke stagflati on could onl y be di scovered and so acqui re l egi ti mate exi stence i f, and onl y if, i t appeared i n the North. T he fact that i t was to be found everywhere in the South simpl y went unnoti ced. After all , a poor country that i s expensi ve for i ts own i nhabi tants i s normall y di smi ssed as very i nexpensi ve by all i ts Northern vi si tors. Cases l i ke thi sand there are many more should i nvi te deep criti cal refl ection.
Impoverishment of Our Language

One of the consequences of the type of simpli sm descri bed so far i s, of course, the i mpoveri shment of our l anguage and, in parti cul ar, of the devel opment language. Whil e bei ng the product of a culture, a l anguage i s al so a generator of cul ture. Hence, i f the l anguage i s poor, the cul ture i s poor. By the same token, i f the development language i s poor, development i tsel f wil l be poor. Overestimated yet nonsensi cal indicators (about whi ch so much as been wri tten) are just one example of domi nant components of the devel opment language. Another example i s the fragmentati on of people and societies as a result of the semanti cs of reducti oni st and mechani sti c thinki ng. T he i nteresti ng thing about an impoveri shed language i s that, contrary to what might appear as obvi ous; it i s not a language that requi res more words and concepts. What characteri zes a poor language i s that it has too many words behind whi chknowingl y or unknowi ngl ywe hide our i gnorance. In endeavoring to enri ch a language, the chall enge consi sts of findi ng the key words that exi st behi nd those voi ds of ignorance.
Se arching for Answe rs

As a mental exerci se, an adequate pruning of key words shoul d be the answer to an i mpoveri shed l anguage. The pri nci ple behind the act of pruni ng should be clear to anyone who has ever been i nterested i n orchards. T hrough pruning we will achi eve more and better from l ess. Fewer branches and l eaves wi l t all ow more li ght to be absorbed and thus produce better frui ts. In the case of a l anguage, the pruni ng of chosen words will force us i nevitabl y into higher degrees of clari ty,
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Abou t the P ru nin g of La ng uage ngl y sel f-
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T he answer to the dange rs emanati ng from the u ti l i zati on of si mpli sti c theories consi sts of devi si ng methods whi ch, ei ther through our di rect parti ci pati on or through our committed intell ectual i nvol vement will all ow us to actual l y become part of, or reall y to feel identi fi ed wi th, that whi ch we i ntend to understand. No understandi ng i s possi bl e i f we detach oursel ves from the object of our i ntended understanding. Detachment can onl y generate knowl edge, not understanding. T he possi bi li ties of improving our choi ce of options, our capaci ty to fl uentl y di sti ngui sh betw een tho se o f pri ma ry and seconda ry rel evance, wi ll greatl y depend on the quali ty of the soluti ons we may gi ve to the other two problems: language and si mpl i sm. Hence, l et us examine the suggested answers i n acti on.
On Pruning
In order to play my gamebecause a mental game i s what i t i s I chose to prune from my l anguage the foll owi ng words: devel opment, economi c growth, effi ci ency and producti vity. In addi ti on to these words, such conventional economi c indi cators as Gross Nati onal Product and i ts offspri ng were al so pruned. A fundamental questi on arose immedi atel y: "Wi thout these words, can I make j udgments about soci al improvement, or must I suffer in perpetual sil ence?" What fol - lows i s the result of my personal experi ence in answering the challenge. I agai n asked mysel f the ol d question: "What shoul d be the aim of my society?" In the past, an answer, such as "sustai ned growth, higher producti vity and i ncreased effi ciency as a means to the achi evement of ever hi gher stages of development so that all the people can sati sfy thei r basi c needs," woul d have sounded ni ce and be acceptable. Now, such a statement becomes perfectl y meani ngless. It finall y became cl ear to me that any soci al system's fundamental aim shoul d be the achievement of coherence; that i s, of coherence with i tsel f, meaning in turn that i t should not become a cari cature of some other system. Furthermore, a coherent system shoul d ful fi ll at l east three attri butes that will be identi fi ed as Compl eteness, Consi stency and Decidabi li ty. 1. Compl eteness, meaning that the system stri ves to organi ze i tsel f i n a way that all ows for its reproduction in an i ncreasi
reli ant manner. In other words, the fundamental human needs of all the members of the system can i ncreasi ngl y 3 be met wi th the sati sfi ers generated wi thin the system. Thi s nei ther i mpli es sel f-suffi ci ency, nor autarchy or i sol ationi sm. T rade and other forms of exchange shoul d by all means take place, the onl y precaution bei ng that they do not do so at the expense of the peopl es' securi ty and well -bei ng, as i s the case when socio- economi c strategies are arranged accordi ng to the si mpl i sti c and fal laci ous belief that all will be better off once the GNP grows suffi cientl y. 2. Consi stency, meani ng that the system's chosen form of reproduction leads to no self-destructi ve contradi cti ons. Goi ng back to the pre-pruned language for the purpose of il lustrati on, a good exampl e of a sel f-destructi ve contradicti on i s economi c growth at the expense of envi ronmental degradation or resources depleti on. Selfdestructi ve contradi ctions can al so ari se i n the poli ti cal and cul tural spheres. A consi stent sy stem, as descri bed here, i s essenti all y a synergi c system. 3. Decidabili ty, meani ng that the system has an i nbuil t capaci ty to l earn from experienceits own and those of others. As a consequence, the sy stem may al low i ts members to make rel evant choi ces. A sy stem that sati sfi es thi s attribute cannot have an authoritari an structure, where i nformati on flows onl y i n one di rection from the top downwards. It requi res a parti cipatory structure where feedback i s not i nhibi ted. A decidable system, as described here, i s essentiall y a di rect democracy, where di versi ty in all i ts forms and mani festations i s not onl y protected but sti mul ated. T he pruni ng of l anguage opens possi bili ti es for the design of new and rel evant i ndi cators of social improvement. Indi cators of compl eteness, of consi stency and of decidabili ty may lead, without falli ng into the mathemati cal shortcomi ngs of aggregate gl obal i ndi cators, to the eventual emergence of some sort of meaningful "Gl obal Coherence" notions. A program (in the scientifi c sense of the word) i s open for expl oration. 4
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Abou t the P ru nin g of La ng uage re-
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On Inte rpretation
An i solated element (object) "a" can be descri bed but cannot be explai ned. A relation between el ements through a gi ven operator "*" that makes the rel ati on possi bl e, for exampl e, "a * b" can both be descri bed and explai ned. Now, as mentioned i n the opening remarks of thi s chapter, descri bi ng plus explaini ng does not amount to understandi ng. The sy stem "a * b" can onl y be understood from a system of higher compl exity. Thi s means that i n the case of human systems (or sub-systems), as i s our concern here, onl y when I i ncrease the complexi ty of a system (or subsystem) by becomi ng part of i t"Y * (a * b)"can I begin to understand i t. Al though the formul ations of the previous paragraph may seem obscure to some, they ill ustrate (perhaps i n an oversimpli fi ed manner) what we have in mi nd. The i dea can, however, be expressed i n more coll oquial terms. Suppose that you have studied everythi ng there i s -from the anthropologi cal , cul tural , psychol ogi cal , biologi cal and biochemi cal poi nts of viewabout the phenomenon of love. You are an erudi te. You know everything that can be known about l ove, but you will never understand l ove unl ess you fall in love. Thi s principl e i s valid for al l human systems, al though i t i s almost al ways overlooked. In fact, soci al and economi c research sel dom goes beyond descri bing and expl ai ning. Take the case of poverty, for i nstance. I dare say that i f we have so far been unable to eradi cate poverty, i t i s because we know too much about it, without understanding the essence of i ts exi stence as well as the mechani sms of i ts origins. T he l ast statement leads me to an addi tional reflecti on. Problem sol vi ng belongs to the realm of knowl edge and requi res fragmented thinki ng. In the real m of understandi ng, problem posing and problem sol vi ng do not make sense since we deal wi th transformations that start wi th, and wi thi n, oursel ves. It i s no l onger the "we are here, and the poor are there, and we have to do somethi ng about it, so let us devi se a strategy that may sol ve the probl em." It i s rather the "we are part of something that has to be transformed because i t i s wrong, and, si nce I share the responsibil ity for what i s wrong, there i s nothing that can stop me from starting the process by transformi ng mysel f." Even i f I am a researcher, I must learn to integrate mysel f wi th the object of my
searc h. T here are, of course, di fferent forms of achieving integrati on between researcher and object of research. It need not be physi cal i ntegrati on, al though i n the ca se of so ci al , economi c and often cul tural re search, i t should. T here are methods of mental i ntegration i n the abstract fields of research, but it i s not the purpose of thi s chapter to descri be such methods. In any case, i t shoul d be added that i f we had more "barefoot" economi sts and soci ologi sts around, we might begin to witness some improvements i n the resul ts of economi c and soci al poli cies.
4. The Devel opment Al ternatives Centre (CEPAUR) in Chile,

headed by the author, i s presentl y engaged i n research along such fines.
Conclusio n
Having carried out the exerci se of pruni ng and becomi ng aware of the l imits of knowledge on the one hand, and of the di fferences between knowl edge and understandi ng on the other, there i s no harm i n goi ng back to my ol d words, even to my old language. If I do so now (and it would be fooli sh i f I did not), both the words as well as the language to whi ch they conform will no l onger be masks behi nd whi ch ignorance remai ns hi dden but wi l l become ferti l e spaces fo r the permanent progress toward intell ectual whol eness.
1. Vandana Shi va, Staying Ali ve, London: Zed Books, 1988, p.
220.
NOTE S
2.
Jane Jacobs, Ci ties and the Wealth of Nati ons, New York: Random House, 1985, p. 6. 3. Concerni ng the concept of Fundamental Human Needs and Sati sfi ers, see M. Max-Neef, A. Eli zal de and M. Hopenhayn, Human Scal e Development, Dag Hammarskj l d Foundati on, Uppsal a, Sweden, 1989, adapted as Part One of thi s book.
6. A STUPID WAY OF LIFE*
Manfred MaxNeef
Insight
Since childhood, I have been concerned wi th what I consi dered to be a very important questi on: "What makes human beings unique? Is there some human attri bute that no other ani mal shares wi th us?" The fi rst answer recei ved was that human bei ngs have a soul , and animal s have not. Since I loved, and stil l love, animal s, i t sounded a bi t strange and pai nful . Furthermore, i f God was so j ust and generouswhi ch I sti ll believed in those dayshe woul d not make such a di scri minati on. So, I was not convinced. A few years l ater, under the i nfl uence of earl y teachers, I was l ed to conclude that we were the onl y intelli gent bei ngs, wi th animal s having onl y instincts. It di d not take too l ong to reali ze that I was on the wrong track again. Thanks to the contri buti ons made by ethology, we know now that animal s al so have intelli gence. And so I pondered, until one day I finall y thought I had i t humans are the onl y bei ngs capable
* Adapted f rom T he S chumache r Memo ri al Lec tu re, B ri stol , Engl and, October 8, 1989.
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106
A Stupid Way of Life
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of humor. Agai n I was di sappoi nted by a study demonstrating that even bi rds make jokes and "l augh" at each other. I had almost decided to gi ve up, having become a uni versi ty student i n the meantime, when I menti oned my frustrati on to my father. He si mpl y l ooked at me and said: "Why don't you try stupidi ty?" Although shocked at fi rst, the years have passed, and I would li ke to announce that, unl ess someone el se can cl aim l egitimate precedence, I am very proud of probabl y bei ng the founder of a new and very important di sciplinethe di sci pli ne of stupi dol ogy. I hold, thus, the strong opi ni on that stupi di ty i s a uni que trai t of human bei ngs. No other bei ngs are stupid except us! Of course, such statements may sound a bi t strange, even whi msi - cal , at fi rst. But i n the winter term of 1975, I gave a course in Wel lesl ey Coll ege, Massachusetts, open al so to students of MIT , the ti tl e of which was "Inqui ry into the-Nature and Causes of Human Stupi di ty." It was, as you can imagine, a very well -attended course. People thought that i s was goi ng to be fun, whi ch i n fact the fi rst two sessi ons were. Duri ng the thi rd sessi on, participants began looking a bit more seri ous and by the fourth, there were al ready l ong faces. And as the course went on, we all di scovered that i t was a damn seri ous subj ect.
in order to moderni ze and expand agri cultural producti or wi tnessed 1 on; s di ffused the wi dest and wi th the greatest efficiency, vel ocity and accel erati on i n the worl d todayi s human stupi di ty. Whether I experienced the finali zation of a pl an to bulldoze away thousands of rural vil lages i n Rumani a
Crisis
Now why do I mention thi s? Well, I am a person who travel s a great deal , perhaps too much. And so l ast June and Jul y, I compl eted my thi rd voyage around the worl d in twenty months. It turned out to be a very speci al experience wi th somethi ng happening to me that never hap- pened before while in Bangkokthe capital of one of my favori te Asi an countri es. T he fi rst morni ng I awoke to a state of great depressi on, as i f I was faci ng a deep exi stential cri si s. T he sensation was, if i t can be expressed i n words: "I have seen too much. I don't want any more of i t. I am fed up!" It was a dreadful , terrifyi ng feeli ng, and I asked myself: "Why am I feeli ng thi s?" T he answer carne i n the form of the sudden comprehensi on that what grows the fastestthat what i
the col ossal World Bank-financed transmi gration program in Indonesi a, which eradicated milli ons of peopl e and transported them from one end of the country to the other in the name of development; or whether it was that T hai land 's development authori ti es were very proud to announce that day that i n the north, whi ch was sti ll heavil y forested, several hundreds of villages were going to be destroyed with the people reinstal led i n fourteen urban centers "wi th all the amenities they would requi re fo r a devel oped so ci ety"al l refl ec ted the same ki nd of stupi di ty. So I reali zed that stupidity i s a cosmicall y democrati c force. It con- taminates everyone beyond race, creed and i deol ogy. No one i s safe. And whether i n the North, the South, the West or the East, we commit the same stupidi ti es over and agai n. Something happens to render us i mmune to experience. Not all seemed dark, however. In the mi dst of my cri si s, I reali zed that other trends were taki ng pl ace, and that there were al so posi ti ve si gns. Actuall y, in the end, i t all amounted to a sensati on that I was wi t- nessi ng the last 100 meters of a ten-kil ometer race between two i rrecon- cil abl e forces, and that one of them would wi n by just the tip of a nose, meani ng that i t mi ght turn i nto the most i mportant "ti p of the nose" in human hi story. T wo forces, two paradigms, two utopias, i f you wi sh, bril 2 liantl y descri bed i n Vandana Shi va's book Staying Al i ve, that bri ng about a schi zophreni c world. Every person concerned cannot possi bl y avoid fall ing into a schi zophreni c state. Thi s i s our reali ty and we cannot fool oursel ves. So the question i s how do we face a situati on li ke thi s? How do we interpret i t? Or, how i s i t that we have fall en into a si tuati on li ke thi s si nce I honestl y bel ieve that the world has not al ways been schi zophreni c? The fi nal outcome of my cri si s was relati vel y posi ti ve. A few days l ater I found myself on a beauti ful Pol ynesian i sl and wi th my wi fe the perfect place to fall i n love wi th life again. Imagi ne wal ki ng into the crystal clear sea water of a magni fi cent coral red' and the fi sh coming up to eat from your hand. It was marvel ous and 1 began to recover, and so I coul d conti nuo my refl ecti on s under more au spi ci ou s ci rcum stan ces.
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Human Scale Development It al ways happens that one recei ves hel p from fri ends, not onl y friends one has met personall y, but friends one has made through books. On thi s occasi on, i t was Ludwi g Wi ttgenstei n who carne to my ai d. I focused agai n on the probl em of language. Language i s not onl y the expressi on of a culture, but i t al so generates cul ture. If the l anguage i s poor, the cul ture i s poor. But the point i s that we are al so trapped by l anguage. Language i s a form of impri sonment. The way in which we use words or concepts i nfluences and sometimes even determi nes not onl y our behavi or but our percepti ons as wel l . Every generation, as pointed out by the great Spani sh philosopher Jos Ortega y Gasset, has its own theme, that i s, i ts own preoccupation. I woul d add that every generati on al so has i ts own l anguage i n whi ch i t i s trapped.
A Stupid Way of Life devel opment in the
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On Constraints of Language
We are trapped, whether we want to be or not, i n the language of economi cs, whi ch has domesti cated the enti re worl d. A l anguage domesti cates us when i t manages to permeate our everyday li fe and our everyday forms of expressi on. T he language of economi cs i s u sed i n the ki tchen, among fri ends, in the sci enti fi c associati ons, i n the centers of culture, i n the club, i n the work pl ace and even i n the bedroom. Whatever part of the worl d, we are domi nated by the language of economi cs and i t heavil y i nfluences our behavi or and percepti ons. Now the fact that we are domesti cated by a certai n l anguage i s not necessari l y negati ve, although in thi s case i t may be. It boil s down to a questi on of coherence and incoherence, whi ch I would li ke to explai n and ill ustrate. In the late 1920s and earl y 1930s, during the peri od known as the "Great World Cri si s," the language of Keynesian macroeconomi cs emerged. Keynesian macro-economi cs was not onl y the response to a cri si s, but it allowed for its interpretati on and, more than that, i t was an effici ent tool to overcome the cri si s. It was a case, as I woul d li ke to call i t, of a l anguage coherent wi th i ts hi stori cal moment. T he next l anguage shi ft occurred in the 1950s when the "development l anguage" emerged. Al though Joseph Schumpeter had al ready wri tten about the concepts of economi c
1920s, i t was not unti l the 1950s that i t became fashionabl e. Now the l anguage of devel opment was not the consequence of a cri si s; i t was qui te the opposite. It was a l anguage that responded to the enthusiasm generated by the spectacular economi c reconstruction of post-war Europe. It was an optimi sti c l anguage based on the strong belief that we had at last found the remedy to eradi cate poverty from the world. Remember some of i ts cl iches: rapid i ndustriali zati on, moderni zati on, urbani zati on, big push, take-off, sel f-sustai ned growth, etc. It deli vered many i mportant and some spectacul ar changes all through the 1950s to 1960s that seemed to justi fy the optimi sm. In a way, i t was again a case of coherence between l anguage and hi stori cal real ity. Since the mid-1970s and all through the 1980s (thi s l atter decade al ready bapti zed i n United Nations ci rcles as "the lost decade"), a new cri si s, thi s megacri si s that confronts us now, came abouta megacri si s we are still unabl e to interpret i n al l its magni tude. T he strange thing about thi s cri si s i s that i t has not generated i ts own l anguage. In thi s megacri si s, we are still using the l anguage of development, "enri ched," so to speak, through the i ntroduction of preci sel y the most reacti onary pri nciples unearthed form the cemetery of neo-classi c economi cs. So what we have now i s a language based on the enthusiasm of unlimi ted economi c growth and expansi on faced wi th a reali ty of soci al and ecol ogi cal coll apse. Thi s means that we are l i vingand thi s may be one of the outstanding characteri sti cs of the present cri si si n a si tuation of dangerous i ncoherence: our language i s i ncoherent wi th our hi s- tori cal reali ty. Thi s i s not because an alternati ve language has not emerged. There are al ternati ve languages that may prove to be more coherent, but the truth of the matter i s that none of them have managed to cast the ol d one out. What we actuall y fi nd i s that, in the best of cases, some of the concepts of alternati ve languages have penetrated the sti ll domi nant language, but si mpl y as adj ecti ves. T hey represent onl y cosmeti c i mprove- ments. T a ke a concep t such a s su stai nabi l i ty (al l the byzanti ne di scussi ons about and around i ts defini ti on notwi thstandi ng) being metamorphosed i nto su stai nabl e growth. T he meri ts of unendi ng growth are not di scussed, because i ts assumed vi rtues are a paramount component of conventi onal economi c fundamental i sm. So, all that i s all owed for in the domi nant language i s a "ni cer" growth.
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Why do al ternati ve l anguages not penetrate further? One reason i s that much of the so-call ed alternati ve effort i s not addressed to those who still adhere to the conventi onal and tradi ti onal posi tions. T here seems to be a preval ent atti tude, summed up i n such observati ons as: "We don't tal k to them"; after all , "academic are worthl ess"; "Western sci ence i s harmful"; "business people are insensi ble." After al l, i f we are unabl e to dialogue i ntell igentl y, we will never cease to be schi zophreni cs. But these skeptics will remai n; we cannot expect them to leave the pl anet. So those who are maki ng efforts to change thi ngs shoul d al so try to make themsel ves understood by others. It i s our turn, and we must have a sense of sel f-cri tici sm. I woul d never adhere to the idea that we own the truth; that would be arrogant in the extreme. I simpl y presume that we are searching for something i n good faith, but we may al so be wrong, and l ooki ng back i n twenty years, we may say: "How nai ve I was, how absurd my posi ti on. I never reali zed thi s and that." T here i s nothi ng wrong in maki ng mi stakes; there i s something wrong in being di shonest, and i t i s that whi ch we cannot afford. We make proposal s, we make proposi ti ons, and thi s i s natural among humans. We tend to beli eve, probabl y infl uenced by the l ogi cal princi pl e of the excl uded mi ddl e, that every proposi ti on i s either ri ght or wrong. That i s why we are so passi onate in al ways taki ng si des. I would recommend Wi ttgenstei n agai n because then you wi ll reali ze that proposi tions are not necessari l y ri ght or wrong. In fact, perhaps the majori ty of propositi ons are nonsensi cal , and thi s i s something very important to keep i n mi nd. We should al so reali ze that it i s very dangerous when beli efs turn i nto rigi di ti es and infl exi bili ti es. We have li ved through the hi storical experiences of bl ue and brown and red fundamentali st intol erances. I sometimes shudder when I thi nk of the possibiliti es of a future green fundamentali st i ntol erance. Some Solutions? Thi s world i s ti red of grand solutions. It i s ti red of peopl e that know exactl y what has to be done. It i s fed up wi th peopl e wal king around wi th a briefcase full of sol utions looking for the probl
ems that fit those
sol uti ons. I strongl y beli eve that we should start respecting the capacity of reflecti on and the power of sil ence a bit more. T hi s world probabl y requi res somethi ng extremel y si mpl eto be together wi th it, and enjoy the magnifi cent di versi ty such an effort can bring about. But when I say be, I mean be, not be thi s or be that. Thi s i s in my opi nion the greatest personal chall enge each of us i s faced wi th: to be brave enough to be. Now, si ne we are all concerned here wi th human well -bei ng and the heal th of our planet, j ust let me remind you of a few facts. Fi rst, we are li vi ng i n a planet in whi ch societies are i ncreasingl y interconnected and i nterdependent in everythi ng that i s posi ti ve and everything that i s negati ve. Actuall y, thi s i s how it should be wi th every l i ving system. Yet, due to the human attribute of stupi di ty, we fai l to take advantage of the condi ti ons of i nterdependence and i nterconnectedness to gi ve sol idari ty a chance to di splay its synergi c possi bili ti es for overcoming our grave predi cament. We still seem to favor the economi c effi ci ency of greed and the poli tical dynami cs of paranoia. Thi s mai ntains a global sy stem i n whi ch poverty keeps increasi ng worl dwi de and a great deal of the sci enti fi c and technol ogical effort i s di rectl y or i ndi rectl y geared toward insuring the possi bili ti es of destroying the enti re human species. Second, i t no longer makes sense to tal k about devel oped and developing countries, unless we add an addi ti onal category: the underdevelopi ng countries or countries i n a process of underdevelopment. T hi s woul d be the category to fi t most of the presentl y ri ch countries, where peopl es' quali ty of life i s deteriorati ng at an alarming speed. Take one extreme case. A recent study in an earl y October 1989 i ssue of the Mi ami Heral d shows that in the United States, one in every five children li ves below the poverty li ne. A proj ecti on warns about the possi bili ty that by the year 2010, the proportion may ri se to one in every three. And thi s i n a country that has 6 percent of the world population and accounts for al most 55 percent of the world's total energy consumption. T hi rd, one of the most tragi c condi tions, for whi ch humani ty as a whole shoul d feel pai n as wel l as shame, i s that we have managed to construct a worl d, as has been poi nted out by UNICEF, where the maj ori ty of the poor are chi ldren and, even worse, where the maj ori ty of the chil dren are poor. One thi ng should be cl ean: we cannot go on pretendi ng that we can sol ve an unsustai nabl e poverty through the im-
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plementati on of an unsustai nabl e devel opment. T he pa radoxi c al i ssue, i t seem s to me, i s that we kno w a l ot; we probabl y know al l we need to know, but we understand very l i ttl e. Let me el aborate on thi s statement. We tend to beli eve that once we have descri bed somethi ng, and then ha ve e xpl ai ned that somethi ng, we ha ve unde rstood tha t somethi ng. T hi s i s a mi sta ke because, a s obse rved i n the foregoi ng chapter, descri b i ng pl us expl ai ni ng does not amount to understandi ng. Let me remi nd you of the example I have on page 106: You can never understand l ove, unl ess you fal l i n l ove. T hi s i s val i d for eve ry l i vi ng sy stem. You can not attempt to understand somethi ng of whi ch you are not a part. Hence, how can we understand a so ci ety, a worl d, a pl anet, a bi osphere, detach ing oursel ves from it? How many of us actual l y understand the probl ems we are tryi ng to sol ve? Problem sol vi ng belongs to the realm of knowledge and requi res f ragmen ted thi n ki ng . In the real m of unde rstandi ng p robl em po si ng and probl em sol ving do not make sense, because we must deal wi th transformati ons that start wi th, and wi thin, oursel ves.
Future Scenarios
N o w, wh at about t he futu re? In thi s matte r I woul d l i ke to sh are wi th you the i nsi ght of my good fri end, the di sti ngui shed Argenti nean e col ogi st D r. Gi l b e rto Gal l opi n , who ha s p ropo sed t h ree po ssi bl e scenarios.3 Scenari o one, i s the po ssi bi l i ty of total or parti al exti ncti on of the human speci es. T he most obvi ous way for thi s to come about woul d be a nucl ea r hol o cau st, whi ch, a s we kno w, i s ba sed on the p ri nci pl e of Mu tual l y A ssu red D e st ru cti on. But ap art f rom the nu cl ear hol ocau st there are a number of p roce sse s under way that may bri ng thi s scena ri o ab out: the det e ri orati on of the en vi ronmen t, de st ru cti on of fo re st s, destructi on of geneti c di versi ty, pol l uti on of seas, l a ke s and ri vers, a si d rai n, greenhouse effect, ozone l ayer depl eti on and so on. S cena ri o t wo i s t he ba rb ari ani zati on of the wo rl d, a ne w w ay of tu rni ng h uman ki nd i n to b arbari an s. C ha rac te ri sti c wi l l be the emergence of bubbl es of enormous weal th, surrounded by
barri cades or fortre sse s to protect that weal th from the i mmense terri to ri e s of poverty and mi sery extendi ng beyond the barri cades. It i s i ntere sti ng to note that thi s scena ri o appea rs mo re and more i n the sci ence fi cti on l i tera ture of the l ast decade. It i s the sort of Mad Max atmosphere whi ch the Au st ral i an s ha ve so b ri l l i antl y depi cte d i n thei r fi l m s. Man y of i t s symptom s are al ready found i n mental atti tudes and i n the actual c rea ti on o f i sol ated a rea s f o r the ve ry ri ch who do n ot wan t to be contami nated by seei ng, heari ng or havi ng anythi ng whatsoeve r to do wi th p o v e rt y. P a rt of thi s sc e na ri o wi l l be the re su rg en ce o f rep re ssi ve regi me s coope rati ng wi th the weal th y bubbl e s and i mpo si ng fu rt her hardshi ps on the poor. S cena ri o th ree p re sen t s the p o ssi bi l i ty of a g reat t ran si ti onthe passi ng from a domi nant rati onal i ty of bl i nd economi c competi ti on and greed to a rati onal i ty based on the pri nci pl es of shari ng and sol i dari ty. We mi ght call i t the passi ng from a Mutual l y Assu red Dest ructi on to an era of Mutual l y Assured Soli dari ty. But can we do i t? Have we the tool s, the wi l l and the tal ent of con st ruc ti ng a mutual l y a ssu red sol i dari ty? Can we overcome the stupi di ty that keep s such a po ssi bi l i ty out of our reach? I bel i eve that we can, and that we have the capaci ty. But there may not be too much time l et. We want to change di e wo rl d, but we are conf ronted wi th a great pa radox. At thi s stage of my l i fe, I have reached the concl u si on that I l ac k the po wer to change the wo rl d or any si gni fi cant part of i t. I onl y have the power to change my sel f. And the fa sci nati ng thi ng i s that i f I deci de to change my sel f, the re i s no pol i ce force i n the worl d that can prevent me from doi ng so. It i s j u st my deci si on and i f I want to do i t, I can do i t. No w, the poi nt i s that i f I change my sel f, somethi ng may happen a s a con sequence tha t may l ead to a change i n the worl d. But we are afrai d of changi ng oursel ve s. It i s al way s ea si er to try to change others. T he di ctum of Soc rate s wa s "Kno w th y sel f," for he kne w how afrai d human bei ngs are to know themsel ves. We know a lot about our nei ghbors, but we know l i ttl e about oursel ves. So, i f we si mpl y manage to change oursel ves, somethi ng fasci nating may happen to the worl d. I hope the day comes i n whi ch every one of u s may be brave enough to be capabl e of sayi ng i n absol ute honesty: "I am, and because I am, I have become a part of . . ." It seem s to me that thi s i s the ri ght di recti on to fol low i f we want to put an end to a stupi d
way of l ife.
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NOTES
1. The Schu macher Me morial Lecture, upon w hich this chapter is based, w as delivered bef ore the f all of Ceausescu's regime. 2. Vandana Shiva, Stayi ng Ali ve, London: Zed Books, 1988. 3. Outlined in a private conversation w ith the author.

Max-Neef Human Scale Development

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HUMAN SCALE DEVELOPMENT

CONCEPTION, APPLICATION AND FURTHER REFLECTI ONS

The Apex Press New York and London

Typeset and printed in the Un ited St ates of America

93 93 94 99 103 105 105 106 108 110 112

Human Scale Development

Manfred Max-Neef Executi ve Di rector, CEPAUR

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

PART ONE : HUMA N SCALE DEVELOPME NT

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 Utopias

Re-readi ng the La ti n A merica n Si tua ti on : 3 Crisis Perplexity

Re-reading the Latin American Situation: Crisis and Perplexity

conventi onal economi c i ndi cators notwi thstandi ng.

Huma n Scale Develo pmen

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

Obje ctive s of Human Scale Developme nt

Re-reading the Latin American Situation: Crisis and Perplexity

Re-reading the Latin American Situation: Crisis and Perplexity

Human Scale Development

2. DEVELOPME NT AND H U MAN NEED S

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs between needs

Three Postulate s and Some Propositions

case, idleness is not laziness.

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs

Economics and Pathologie s

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs

1. Any fundamental human need not adequatel y sati sfi ed

2. Up to the present we have developed treatments for indi vidual

Argumentation Human Nee ds: Deprivation and Potential

Development and Human Needs

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

Human Nee ds and Society

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

The Vindication of Subjectivity

Human Nee ds: Time and Rhythms

Development and Human Needs

Foundations for a Possible Syste matization Classification of Human Nee ds

1. The classi ficati on must be understandabl e. The needs li sted 2.

Development and Human Needs

Needs, Satisfiers and Economic Goods

Examples of Satisfie rs and The ir Attributes

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs

Table 1 - c ontin ued

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

Table 2: VIOLATORS OR DESTROYERS*

Development and Human Needs

Table 4: INHIBITING SATISFIERS*

Protec tion Protec tion

T aylorist-type of Identity, produc Freedom Authoritarian c las s room Freedom

Huma n Scale Devel opme n t

Development and Human Needs

Sati sfi er atisfies

Subsistence Subsistence Protection Protection

Leisure Identity Leisure Affection