Michael Banton interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 24^th August 2001

[The sound is not very good due to a faulty microphone; total interview length, 82 minutes]

0:5 Parents; schooling at King Edwards, Birmingham – early influence of Lowes Dickenson; undermining of religious beliefs

9:49 London School of Economics after three years in the Navy; accepted to read economics under Edward Shils

13:33 Reason for Godfrey Lienhardt’s decision to do anthropology

14:33 Description of Edward Shils

18:33 Edmund Leach; Ginsberg v: Shils; department of sociology

21:01 Research in Stepney; Kenneth Little

23:35 Sierra Leone; constraints - birth of child in Sweden; description of wife; subject of work in Sierra Leone; young men’s associations

29:50 Edinburgh then to Bristol to start a department of sociology; vision for the department

35:13 Interest in race relations; previously interested in police studies; SSRC unit

37:10 Work as a magistrate; long term interest in law; A.S.A. volumes; Gluckman

40:49 During time at Edinburgh, year at M.I.T.; interest in U.S. police;

44:11 Marxism; influence of Popper; race relations; use of terms race and ethnic;

53:03 A sociologist or an anthropologist; cultural difference and universal norms; R.G. Collingwood, Popper; difference between history and social sciences; cultural studies

1:00:00 Work on committees such as UN; skill at drafting reports; Ernest Gellner

1:11:22 Learning prejudice

1:14:03 Working methodology; selected books on race relations