Human Scale Development: Conception, Application and Further Reflections by the late Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef presents a human needs based approach to social change – that is, that society should be based on meeting people’s basic needs, before anything else. By doing this, it is possible to avoid the economic, social, cultural and political crises that periodically afflict much of the civilised world, and to replace current, not-fit-for-purpose models with ones that lead to sustainable socio-economic outcomes that meet all people’s needs long-term, rather than the needs of the few in the short term. This is quite an academic work, but it is a worthy entry in the canon of literature on sustainable development.
further reading…
Human Scale Development: Conception, Application and Further Reflections by the late Chilean economist Manfred Max-Neef presents a human needs based approach to social change – that is, that society should be based on meeting people’s basic needs, before anything else. By doing this, it is possible to avoid the economic, social, cultural and political crises that periodically afflict much of the civilised world, and to replace current, not-fit-for-purpose models with ones that lead to sustainable socio-economic outcomes that meet all people’s needs long-term, rather than the needs of the few in the short term. This is quite an academic work, but it is a worthy entry in the canon of literature on sustainable development.