Bhikhu Chhotalal Parekh, Baron Parekh (born 4 January 1935) is a British political theorist, academic, and life peer. He is a Labour Party member of the House of Lords. He was Professor of Political Theory at the University of Hull from 1982 to 2001, and Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Westminster from 2001 to 2009. He served as president of the Academy of Social Sciences from 2003 to 2008. his father was a goldsmith with a basic education. Parekh was admitted to the University of Bombay at the age of 15, In 2002, he served as president of the Academy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences.
Parekh sits in the Lords as a Labour Party peer. From July 2001 to December 2003, he was a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights.
Publications
- He also wrote an account of "The Rushdie Affair and the British Press; Some Salutary Lessons" for the Commission for Racial Equality in 1990.
- Colour, Culture and Consciousness: Immigrant Intellectuals in Britain, Allen & Unwin, 1974,
Awards and honours
Parekh was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) in 1988, and a Fellow of the Academy of Learned Societies in the Social Sciences (FAcSS) in 1999.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex in 2003. 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) from Nottingham Trent University. On 20 July 2011, Parekh was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from Edge Hill University. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Bristol in July 2022.
He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2007.