Basic needs and social policies

Abstract

This article is concerned with the concept of 'basic needs', its plausibility and its relevance to social policy. Of central importance in all strands of left-of-centre thought, the concept of need provides a basis for the cri tique of capitalism or the market and a justification for state interven tion. This article provides a critical response to the claim that basic needs which are objective and universal can be shown to exist. It argues, in par ticular, that this claim does not succeed in providing a standard of basic need-satisfaction that is plausible and avoids the problem of relativism. Drawing on a pilot needs audit which attempted to operationalize the theory of human need and the report of the Commission on Social Justice, the final section considers the concrete implications of basic needs for social policy and the politics of a needs-based strategy.