The Lord Parekh | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2020 | |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 10 May 2000 Life peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bhikhu Chhotalal Parekh (1935-01-04)4 January 1935 (age 90) Amalsad,Gujarat, India |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Political party | Labour |
| Children | Anant Parekh |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Bombay London School of Economics |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Political science |
| Sub-discipline | |
| Institutions | |
| Notable works | Marx's Theory of Ideology (1982) Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory (2002) |
Bhikhu Chhotalal Parekh (Baron Parekh; born 4 January 1935)[1] is a Britishpolitical theorist, academic, andlife peer. He is aLabour Party member of theHouse of Lords. He was Professor of Political Theory at theUniversity of Hull from 1982 to 2001, and Professor ofPolitical Philosophy at theUniversity of Westminster from 2001 to 2009. He served as president of theAcademy of Social Sciences from 2003 to 2008.[1]
Parekh was born in the village of Amalsad in the province ofGujarat, India;[2] his father was a goldsmith with a basic education.[3] Parekh was admitted to theUniversity of Bombay at the age of 15,[2] and earned a bachelor's degree there in 1954 and a Master's in 1956. He began his graduate studies at theLondon School of Economics in 1959, and received his PhD in 1966.[4]
He taught at theLondon School of Economics and at theUniversity of Glasgow before finding a long-term position at theUniversity of Hull.[4] Between 1981 and 1984 he was Vice-Chancellor at theMaharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in India.[2][4] He also held the Centennial Professorship in the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics[2] and a professorship of political philosophy at theUniversity of Westminster.[5] In 2002, he served as president of theAcademy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences.[4]
Parekh has also served on theCommission for Racial Equality (including a spell as vice-chairman) and has held membership of a number of bodies concerned with issues of racial equality and multiculturalism – most notably as Chairman of theCommission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain from 1998 to 2000. The report of this body (often referred to as the "Parekh Report") has been the basis for much of the debate on multiculturalism in the UK in the early 21st century.
He was appointed alife peer on 10 May 2000 asBaron Parekh, ofKingston upon Hull in theEast Riding of Yorkshire.[4][6]
Parekh sits in the Lords as aLabour Party peer. From July 2001 to December 2003, he was a member of theJoint Committee on Human Rights.[7]
Parekh was elected aFellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 1988, and aFellow of the Academy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 1999.[4] In 2003, he was elected aFellow of the British Academy (FBA), the United Kingdom'snational academy for the humanities and social sciences.[9][10]
He was awarded an honorary doctorate by theUniversity of Essex in 2003.[4] In 2008, he was awarded an Honorary DUniv From The University of Hull. On 11 July 2011, Parekh was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Social Sciences (DSoc Sci) fromNottingham Trent University. On 20 July 2011, Parekh was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy fromEdge Hill University.[11] He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bristol in July 2022.
He was awarded thePadma Bhushan by theGovernment of India in 2007.[2]
Parekh has three sons,[1] includingAnant Parekh, they were all awardedscholarships to study at theUniversity of Oxford.[12]
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Parekh | Followed by |
