ABSTRACT
This chapter considers why it is that issues that in the past had not been regarded as being within the domain of social policy have more recently
come to be seen as having relevance to social policy issues and concerns. Traditionally, social policy has been concerned with issues such as health, housing, education, income maintenance, and the personal social services, but with changes in society, combined with changes in the development of the subject of social policy, it is now possible to argue that the scope of analysis of social policy can and should be broadened. This chapter therefore:
■ examines the development of the subject and the extension of social policy analyses to areas other than traditional concerns;
■ focuses upon issues of food, the environment and sustainability, transport and travel, and ICT to illustrate links with key social policy ideas;
■ considers the implications of these for social policy and for society.
