Bücher von John Mburu

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Sociology - Individual, Groups, Society, grade: A, University of the People (Main), course: Sociology, language: English, abstract: The social theorist has taken different approaches to analyzing the nature of the state and the relationship between the state, society, and individual. The essay will look at the different approaches they use. In particular, the essay will critically analyze the nature and composition of the state, the relationship between the state and the individual and what constitutes the proper range of the state activities. The essay will heavily rely on three books that discuss social theory in depth. Miliband (1969) book, The State in Capitalist Society: The analysis of the Western System of Power will be critical to understanding both state theory and Marxist political thought. Miliband (1969) is concerned with the nature and the role of the state in developed societies. The second book will be the classic work of Crosland (1956); The Future of Socialism. In this book, Crosland (1956) gives the distinction between ¿means¿ and ¿ends¿, argues about the unjustified attack on inequalities, discuss the nature of capitalism and gives a liberal vision of the good society. Lastly, Colin (2011), in The Strange Non-death of Neoliberalism presents a critical analysis of the financial crisis and economic developments, arguing that there is no neat distinction between the state and the market.

Horticulture provides many developing countries with opportunities for export diversification, poverty alleviation and rural development. However, stringent public and private-sector food-safety standards, for example EurepGap (or GlobalGap), pose a challenge especially to small export farmers. Compliance with these standards entails costly investments that may be a burden to smallholder farmers, failure to which might lead to their exclusion in the global market. This book assesses awareness of the EurepGap standards among smallholder farmers and analyzes the critical factors influencing their compliance. It also identifies the costs of complying with these standards and their implications on profitability of smallholder French bean farming business using a case study of Kirinyaga District in Kenya. The study makes several policy recommendations that could be implemented to enhance and upscale compliance with the standards in the study area. Particularly it highlights the need for synergies between the public and private sector in ensuring compliance with the standards among the smallholder horticultural farmers who face the risk of elimination in the international market.