The Reith Lectures

This year's Reith lecturer is the British social anthropologist Professor Edmund Leach. He is the current Provost of King's College, Cambridge and throughout his academic career he has challenged received notions about cultural change. He explores the notion of 'relational structures' in his Reith series entitled 'A Runaway World?'In this lecture entitled 'Ourselves and Others', Professor Edmund Leach asks why we kill each other. Where does our fear of the 'Other' come from? He explores how separation from nature and our neighbours has created this anxiety. He moves on examine how the composition of society has changed, asking why there is a generation gap and the consequential problems with the nuclear family. He questions how we can connect with others, and dispel the fear which constrains us.

Professor John Kenneth Galbraith is the Paul M Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University and is the author of 'The Affluent Society'. In his Reith series entitled 'The New Industrial State', he explores the economics of production.In this lecture entitled 'The Role of the State', Professor Galbraith explores the relationship states have with large Corporations. He argues that the state and private industry are moving closer together and warns there is a danger that the state could become too involved with industry, and consequently policies could be influenced by these corporations. Galbraith looks at what the state should be providing for its citizens.

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Robert Gardiner discusses the issues of race in his Reith series entitled 'A World of Peoples'. Born in Ghana, he has worked as the Head of the Ghana Civil Service, is a former Deputy Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Africa and has authored the book 'Development of Social Administration'.In this lecture entitled 'Economic Meetings', Robert Gardiner explores how economic inequalities affect race relations. He analyses how race can interfere with economic forces by looking at economies for countries where different races live together. He asks, is there race equality within economics?

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Robert Gardiner discusses the issues of race in his Reith series entitled 'A World of Peoples'. Born in Ghana, he has worked as the Head of the Ghana Civil Service, is a former Deputy Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Africa and has authored the book 'Development of Social Administration'.In this lecture entitled 'Contemporary Racial Moods', Robert Gardiner explains why the concept of race resists precise definition and why race theorists persist in searching for proofs of racial differences in mentality. He explores myths which purport to explain racial differences by investigating past history and current frustrations. He provides examples of misconceived ideas by both white and black people and asks, how much of the colour conflict is due to fear? And if these fears were gone, would there be a chance of solving racial problems?

Leading British industrialist and pioneer of automation Sir Leon Bagrit continues his Reith lectures. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Elliott Automation Ltd, one of the first companies in Europe devoted to automation, and speaks on this topic in his series entitled 'The Age of Automation'. In this lecture entitled 'Automation: Industrial and Economic Consequences', Sir Bagrit asks how we can put automation into practice at a national level. How should it be assimilated in the lives of the British citizens? Sir Bagrit argues that the development of new machines will lead to a golden age of mass comfort and opportunity. Thus, he claims, technological advancement needs to be quickened and not slowed.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Albert E Sloman, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Essex. He was previously Gilmour Professor of Spanish at Liverpool University and Dean of the Faculty of Arts. Dr Sloman explores what is needed to make an institute for higher education in Essex in his series entitled 'A University in the Making'.In this lecture entitled 'The Fulfilment of Lives', Dr Sloman explores how the newly built University of Essex will create accommodation for its students. Putting forward his concept of social cohesion for the college in the town of Colchester, he explains how small apartments, integrated recreational areas for students and lecturers and large sport areas will allow for the perfect work/life balance.

Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Edinburgh Professor George Carstairs contemplates the patterns of social anthropology in his Reith series 'This Island Now'. In this lecture entitled 'Vicissitudes of Adolescence', Professor Carstairs explores how violence and sex have been linked to teenage behaviour. Are adolescents more sexually promiscuous? Are teenagers more aggressive? To answer these questions he discusses his own field research in India to compare Hindu communities to British ones, in order to consider how social class affects teenage behaviour.

African affairs writer and lecturer Margery Perham discusses the effects of colonialism in tropical Africa. In 1939 she became the first female fellow of Nuffield College at Oxford University before being appointed as Director of the Oxford Institute of Colonial Studies in 1945. In her Reith series entitled 'The Colonial Reckoning', she highlights problems of colonial rule.In this lecture entitled 'The Problem of White Settlement', she considers the problem of the European colonists, and the delicate question of race relations.

African affairs writer and lecturer Margery Perham discusses the effects of colonialism in tropical Africa. In 1939 she became the first female fellow of Nuffield College at Oxford University before being appointed as Director of the Oxford Institute of Colonial Studies in 1945. In her Reith series entitled 'The Colonial Reckoning', she highlights problems of colonial rule.In this lecture entitled 'African Nationalism', she explores the positive side of anti-colonialism, which is emancipation. She discusses how and why this force has started and tries to explain how it has led to African freedom from British and French rule. She analyses some of the converging events and influences which have turned the world into a hot-house for the forced and rapid growth of African nationalism.

This year's lecturer is the first and current Professor of Art History at Oxford University, Edgar Wind. The German-born British professor specialises in iconology in the Renaissance era. In his Reith Series entitled 'Art and Anarchy', Edgar Wind explores the concepts of creative energies produced through turmoil.In this lecture entitled 'The Mechanization of Art', Edgar Wind considers how machines have influenced art. He untangles conflicting opinions of how mechanics have influenced the production and evaluation of art now that works can be reproduced and multiplied. Professor Wind discusses how our experience of art is affected by the techniques of multiplication, and acknowledges that the creation, preservation and display of art can show signs of a mechanised style.