John Rex
{{short description|British academic}}
{{about|the sociologist|John Rex (1771–1839), the initial benefactor of Rex Hospital|UNC Rex Healthcare|Kings named John|John (disambiguation)#Rulers}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Rex
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|03|05|df=y}}
| birth_place = Port Elizabeth, South Africa
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2011|12|18|1925|03|05|df=y}}
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| other_names =
| occupation = Academic sociologist
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}}
John Rex (5 March 1925 – 18 December 2011{{Cite web|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/insite/news/warwickpeople/obituary_-_professor|title=Obituary - Professor John Rex|website=www2.warwick.ac.uk|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-11-14}}) was a South African-born British sociologist. Born in Port Elizabeth, he was radicalised after working for the South African Bantu Affairs Administration and moved to Britain. He was a lecturer at the universities of Leeds (1949–62) (where he was a leading left-wing activist), Birmingham (1962–64), Durham (1964–70), Warwick (1970–79 and 1984–90), Aston (1979–84), Toronto (1974–75), Cape Town (1991) and New York (1996). He was also a member of the UNESCO International Experts' Committee on Racism and Race Prejudice (1967) and president of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Racial and Ethnic Minorities (1974–82).
Academic work
His academic work involved the analysis of conflict as a key problem of both society and sociological theory. His 1961 book, Key Problems of Sociological Theory, was his first major work where conflict was claimed to be more realistic than the past British functionalist theories of social order and system-stability. He is also known for his studies of race and ethnic relations. He analyzed the classic tradition of sociology, including Karl Marx, Max Weber, Georg Simmel and Émile Durkheim in his book Discovering Sociology (1973).
Rex worked "at the universities of Leeds (1949-62); Birmingham (1962-64); Durham (1964-70); Warwick (1970-79 and 1984-90); Aston (1979-84); Toronto (1974-75); Cape Town (1991); and New York (1996)."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/jan/02/john-rex-obituary |title=John Rex Obituary|publisher=.theguardian.com |access-date=2024-06-30}} He was a professor emeritus at Warwick University.{{cite web|url=http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/shss/expertise/rex/ |title=John Rex |publisher=.warwick.ac.uk |access-date=2012-02-14}}{{cite web|url=http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2555&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html#rex |title=Editorial Board | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |publisher=Portal.unesco.org |access-date=2012-02-14}}
His life has been described by {{ill|Herminio Martins|pt}} of Oxford University1993 as one where both "passion" and "knowledge" intertwined. Theory and practice was for him always a dynamic issue and led to his demands for "objective" research and comment while being a political radical involved in the UK's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the New Left Review.
Publications
=Books=
His book publications include:
- {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFsVAAAAIAAJ&q=John+Rex| title=Key Problems of Sociological Theory| publisher=Routledge & K. Paul|year= 1961 | first=John | last=Rex | isbn=978-0-7100-6903-0}} (reprint Taylor & Francis, 1970, {{ISBN|978-0-7100-6903-0}})
- Race, Community and Conflict: a study of Sparkbrook, with R.S.Moore, OUP 1967
- Discovering Sociology, 1973
- Race, Colonialism and the City, 1973
- {{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/approachestosoci0000rexj| url-access=registration| quote=John Rex.| title=Approaches to Sociology| editor=John Rex| publisher=Routledge| year= 1974| isbn= 978-0-7100-7825-4 }}
- {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6M4OAAAAQAAJ&q=John+Rex| title=Sociology and the Demystification of the Modern World| publisher=Taylor & Francis| year= 1974| isbn= 978-0-7100-7858-2 | first=John | last=Rex}}
- {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b80OAAAAQAAJ&q=John+Rex| title=Colonial immigrants in a British city: a class analysis|author=John Rex |author2=Sally Tomlinson | publisher=Routledge| year= 1979| isbn= 978-0-7100-0142-9 }}
- Apartheid and Social Research, ed., Paris: UNESCO 1981
- Social Conflict - A Theoretical and Conceptual Analysis, 1981
- The Ghetto and the Underclass, Aldershot, 1987
- Ethnic Minorities and the Modern Nation State London 1996
=Articles=
His articles include:
- "Ethnic and Race Issues", 1996 (in: Youth and Social Work on the Move, ed. by Amesberger, Schörghuber and Krehan, in: European Union Congress Report, published by the Institute of Sports Sciences of the University of Vienna, Austria.
=On John Rex=
- {{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mh_p-RlPSbMC&q=John+Rex| editor=Martins, Herminio | title=Knowledge and Passion: Essays in Honour of John Rex| year=1993| publisher=I.B.Tauris| isbn= 978-1-85043-323-1 }}
- Abbas, Tahir and Frank Reeves, Immigration and Race Relations: Sociological Theory and John Rex, 2007
Notes
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Category:Academics of Aston University
Category:Academics of Durham University
Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham
Category:Academics of the University of Leeds
Category:Academics of the University of Warwick
Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto
Category:South African sociologists