Re: psychological impact of capitalism

[Jurriaan Bendien <quark19591@xxxxxxxxx>]

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is not really a hierarchy I think (I cannot remember if he actually used the word ""hierarchy" in his schema). It is more a necessary sequence of need satisfaction, such that the satisfaction of specific needs presupposes the satisfaction of other needs (a distinction is drawn between "deficiency needs" and "growth needs"). This might suggest that human needs have a definite developmental structure, but not necessarily a hierarchical one, nor that the satisfaction of one need will necessarily cause or promote the satisfaction of another. As I recall Maslow's aim in his 1943 article was mainly to define a motivational structure for human behaviour. What Maslow's schema really leaves out is the contradictions that might arise between the different needs that he identifies, i.e. that one type of need satisfaction might get in the way of another. Revolutionary impulses could arise precisely out of those contradictions.

Useful introductory texts I read in my undergraduate days (1970s) on this topic included:

Richard Sennett/Jonathan Cobb, The hidden injuries of class

Michel Bosquet(pseud. Andre Gorz), Capitalism and everyday life

Agnes Heller, Marx's theory of needs

Useful texts could be also:

Ian Gough/Lesley Doyal, A Theory of Human Need (1991) Macmillan Press

Ian Gough, Global Capital, Human Needs and Social Policies: Selected Essays 1994-99

Maureen Ramsay, Human needs and the market 

Jurriaan

 

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