Political struggles over the logic of human needs quantification: Negotiating capitalist welfare futures

Abstract

This article draws on historical and ethnographic research conducted in Portugal to examine how the logic of human needs quantification serves as a central point of political struggle among various social actors, each driven by conflicting political motivations, moral commitments, and valuation debates during periods of crisis. It argues that this logic should be understood as a site of struggle where different actors delineate the material, moral, and political boundaries that shape the fulfillment of basic needs, the allocation of resources, and the organization and management of social hierarchies regarding needs and their carriers. Furthermore, the article demonstrates that political struggles over the logic of human needs quantification during each crisis have been crucial in negotiating capitalist welfare futures.