Social Policy and Social Movements: Ecology and Social Policy

Abstract

While there have been some contributions from the green movement concerning social policy, it is fair to say that much of this is limited to the manifestoes of green parties. Green social theory, in general, has had little to say on social policy. Part of the reason for this is that many of the changes greens would like to see across a whole range of social policy areas – from housing to education to welfare provision – are typically argued to follow, almost ‘naturally’, from the (sometimes radical) changes they suggest to the contemporary organisation of industrialised societies as a whole. This is largely due to the extremely ‘holistic’ approach that is a distinctive feature of the green movement’s thinking. One immediate result of this holistic approach is that ecological considerations cut across many traditional policy areas, and therefore require a newer, more integrated approach to policy making than has traditionally been the case.