Michael Parker Banton CMG, FRAI (8 September 1926[1] – 22 May 2018[2]) was a British social scientist, known primarily for his publications on racial and ethnic relations.
Banton became best known for his book Race Relations (1967), which summarised contemporary social science knowledge of that field.
He has been critical of accounts of majority-minority relations in Europe that interpret them in the light of conceptions conventional in the USA.
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 the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination from 1986 to 2001[3] and as its chairman for 1996–98.