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Michael Banton | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1926-09-08)September 8, 1926 |
| Died | May 22, 2018(2018-05-22) (aged 91) |
| Occupation(s) | social scientist, known primarily for his |
| Known for | publications on racial and ethnic relations, the first editor of Sociology |
Michael Parker BantonCMG,FRAI (8 September 1926[1] – 22 May 2018[2]) was a British social scientist, known primarily for his publications on racial andethnic relations. He was also the first editor ofSociology (1966-1969).[3]
Banton attendedKing Edward's School, Birmingham.[4]
After graduating from theLondon School of Economics in 1950, Banton conducted research on the settlement of New Commonwealth immigrants in theEast End ofLondon for which he received a PhD from theUniversity of Edinburgh,[5] from where he also gained a D.Sc. ininter-group relations in 1964.[6] Here he studied underKenneth Little at the Anthropology department which Banton noted was called "Negroes in Britain Industry".[7] Banton remained at the department and produced three books under Little's supervision: subsequently wrote books about the settlement of rural immigrants inFreetown,Sierra Leone, and on the behaviour of the white British towards New Commonwealth immigrants. His bookThe Policeman in the Community, a comparative study of policing in Scotland and the United States, was the first book-length sociological study of the police.
Banton became best known for his bookRace Relations (1967), which summarised contemporary social science knowledge of that field. This phase of his writing concluded with a volume,The Idea of Race, in which he introduced into the English language the concept ofracialization as a process by which the idea of race as a physical category was socially utilized to organise perceptions of the populations of the world. Up to this point his work reflected sociological orthodoxy. For the next forty-plus years his publication energies focused increasingly on this subject as he turned out a succession of studies devoted to defining the study of race relations as a discipline. Banton's particular approach led to a long-running debate withJohn Rex. Other protagonists include Robert Miles who in 1982 publishedRacism and Migrant Labour.[3]
Starting in 1976, Banton's criticisms of that orthodoxy strengthened. InRacial and Ethnic Competition (1983) he advanced a rational choice theory. The book ended with a discussion of what constituted 'good' racial relations; it concluded that good racial relations would be ethnic relations. He has been critical of accounts ofmajority-minority relations in Europe that interpret them in the light of conceptions conventional in the USA.
RecallingMax Weber's statement that he became a sociologist 'in order to put an end to the mischievous enterprise which still operates with collectivist concepts' Banton has observed that 'ethnic group' is acollectivist concept. There are ethnic categories; those who are assigned to an ethnic category may come to form a group, but do not necessarily do so. From this starting point he has developed a theory ofsocial categories.
Whereas Banton has been much concerned with the improvement of concepts and theories in this field, he has also written on measures for the reduction of racial discrimination. He served as an elected member of theUnited Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination from 1986 to 2001[3] and as its chairman for 1996–98.
Banton was Lecturer, and subsequently Reader, inSocial Anthropology, University of Edinburgh, 1954–65, and professor of Sociology,University of Bristol, 1965–92.[8]He was President of theRoyal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 1987–89, and President of the Sociology section, (1970–71) and the Anthropology section, (1985–86) within theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science. He was President of the Ethnic, Race and Minority Relations section of theInternational Sociological Association 1990–94, and Director of theSocial Science Research Council Research Unit on Ethnic Relations, 1970–78. He was the first editor ofSociology, 1967–70.[9]
Banton died in May 2018 at the age of 91.[10]
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