Sociology and the teaching of ethnic and racial studies

Surveys and other explorations of the teaching of ethnic and racial studies have occurred over three decades in the UK, mostly within sociology. The findings of one recent survey are discussed, along with an examination of sociology textbooks, and used to argue that the content of teaching is both more and less diverse than Michael Banton indicates, and that his account underplays the impact of audit and scrutiny exercises in higher education. This article goes on to argue that many aspects of ethnic and racial studies transcend the boundaries of sociology and other disciplines, and to use Banton's call for comparison as a launch pad to reflect on history of the discipline of sociology and how such reflections can be used to think otherwise about how we teach ethnicity and racism.