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Ever since the Brundtland Report, the language of human needs has been etched deeply into the conceptual framework of sustainable development (WCED 1987). 1 For even longer than that, the concept of ‘needs’ has played an important role in our understanding of consumer behaviour and has been a key input to the disciplines of economic psychology, consumer research and marketing (Kassarjian and Robertson 1968). Philosophers from Plato onwards have discussed the relevance of human needs to conceptions of the ‘good life’and the role of governance (Haines 1985). More recently, the concept of needs has provided the foundation for an extended ecological and social critique of conventional development (Max-Neef 1991). In spite of these various manifestations, the discourse on human needs remains a fiercely contested one (Douglas et al. 1998). Some argue that human needs can provide an …