Multicultural Girlhood

Mary E. Thomas is Assistant Professor in the Departments of Geography and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University.

• Acknowledgments 1 Introduction 2 Banal Multiculturalism and Its Opaque Racisms: New Racial Ideals and the Limits of "Getting Along" 3 The Sexual Attraction of Racism: The Latent Desires of "Boys Are stupid" 4 The Pain of Segregation: School Territoriality, Racial Embodiment, and Paranoid Geographies 5 Geographies of Migrant Girlhood: Families and Racialization 6 What Girls Want at School: Surveillance, Care, and a Predictable Space 7 Conclusion References Index

"Given the institutionalization of multiculturalism, racialized school violence continues to baffle teachers, parents, and researchers alike. In Multicultural Girlhood, Mary Thomas addresses the question raised by the schoolgirls in her study: 'Why can't we just get along?' Her provocative answer draws attention to the investment that we all have in hierarchies of difference. This book is a must read for anyone concerned about the limitations of current multicultural policies and practices." -Dawn H. Currie, Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia