Political theorist speaks out on the politics of identity
Posted on 8 November 2005
Lord Parekh, who is Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics, will deliver the 23rd Morrell Address, titled The Politics of Identity, on 15 November 2005. The lecture is open to the public.
The public lectures are organised by the Morrell Studies in Toleration Programme, which was established in the University's Department of Politics in 1980, using funding from the C and J B Morrell Trust. Since 1981, academics, politicians, lawyers and broadcasters, ranging from Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield to Sir Edward Heath and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC to Mark Tully, have been invited to York to speak on issues surrounding Toleration.
Lord Parekh's work has made a unique contribution to our understanding of multiculturalism at both a political and a philosophical level
Professor Susan Mendus
Born in Gujarat and educated at the University of Bombay and the LSE, Bhikhu Parekh was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Baroda and a member of India's University Grants Commission. He became Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hull in 1982 and chaired the Commission for Racial Equality before being made a Life Peer in 2000.
He is a trustee of the Runnymede Trust, the Institute of Public Policy Research, and the Anne Frank Educational Trust, and was Chair of the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, which reported in autumn 2000. In 2003, he was elected to the fellowship of the British Academy.
Lord Parekh was elected British Asian of the Year in 1992 and received the BBC's award for special lifetime achievement in 1999.
Lord Parekh has published on a wide range of figures in the history of political thought. His many books include: Bentham's Political Thought (1973) Hannah Arendt and the Search for a New Political Philosophy (1981), Marx's Theory of Ideology (1982), and, most recently, Rethinking Multiculturalism (2000) and Gandhi (2001).
Professor Susan Mendus, a Morrell Trustee, said "We are immensely pleased to have Lord Parekh as our speaker in this, the 25th year of the Morrell Studies in Toleration Programme at York. Lord Parekh's work has made a unique contribution to our understanding of multiculturalism at both a political and a philosophical level, and we are honoured that he has agreed to deliver the Morrell Lecture in this very special year for us."
Notes to editors:
- Since 1980 the Politics Department at the University of York has been home to the Morrell Toleration Project, which is funded by the C and J B Morrell Trust. The Trust supports a wide range of activities in political philosophy, including an annual Address on Toleration, regular conferences on the philosophical foundations of toleration, and funding for students who wish to register for the MA in Political Philosophy (The Idea of Toleration).
- The Department of Politics at York provides a stimulating and friendly environment for students. It is consistently ranked amongst the top six centres for teaching and research in Politics and International Studies and was awarded a '5A/5*' in the latest Research Assessment Exercise and maximum '24/24' by the Quality Assurance Agency for teaching quality.
- The Morrell Address is at 8pm on Tuesday 15 November, in P/X001 in the Physics Building at the University of York. Entry is free and all are welcome.