Books
"Nice Is Not Enough is a deeply observed, profoundly important statement on how schools' well-meaning 'cultures of kindness' mask inequalities of race, class, gender, and sexuality while claiming to do the opposite."—Peggy Orenstein, Girls and Sex and Boys and Sex
"Nice Is Not Enough is a virtuosic study from one of sociology's best ethnographers."—Victor Ray, On Critical Race Theory: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care
"The power of this book lies in the balance it strikes between solemnity and joy—joy in its celebration of the progress that US schools have made in recent decades in advancing a culture of respect and mutual care, and solemnity in its assessment of the inherent limits of what can be achieved when we treat individual choices as the solution to social problems."—Jessica Calarco, Negotiating Opportunities: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School
“Gripping, ethnographically rich, and beautifully written.”—Annette Lareau, We Thought It Would be Heaven: Refugees in an Unequal America
“This insightful peek into the realities of high school should be read by researchers, administrators, teachers, and parents.” ―Men & Masculinities
“An incisive assessment.” ―Seattle Gay News
“Introspective, fascinating, consistently interesting.” ― Bay Area Reporter
"Laced with evocative stories based on ethnographic observations and interviews with high school kids, Dude, You're a Fag tells gripping stories of life in high school, while helping to extend the cutting edge of scholarly theory on gender and sexualities."―Michael A. Messner, Taking the Field: Women, Men and Sports
"This is a strikingly original study of schoolboys renegotiating class, gender, and ethnicity, along with the labeling as 'fag'. Here homophobia is at work in a path breaking study, which is also a highly readable must-read."Ken Plummer, editor of Sexualities
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"This book is a must for anyone interested in youth culture, learning, and new media." ―John Seely Brown, Former Chief Scientist, Xerox Corporation, and Former Director of Xerox PARC
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"Over and again, this thought-provoking book challenges adult preconceptions and traditional preoccupations, insisting that we recognize the values, concerns, and literacies of today's youth." ―Sonia Livingstone, Parenting for a Digital Future
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"Highly suggested reading to anyone interested to know more about kids' everyday informal learning practices with new media (especially teachers, parents, and policy-makers)." ―Fabio Giglietto, University of Urbino
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"An outstanding contribution to, and absolutely necessary intervention for, the field of masculinities...The volume is the most in-depth and comprehensive treatment of masculinities around, offering everything from theory, to classic texts that deal with men but may not analyze them as men, to cutting edge research. The editors are two of the youngest and most gifted scholars in the field of masculinities." ―Freeden Oeur, Black Boys Apart
"Prior to Barrie Thorne, sociologists viewed children as little more than future adults, not worthy of serious attention. She taught us how to treat children as full human beings. Gender Replay honors the creativity of children and the scholar who started it all." ―Christine L. Williams, Gaslighted: How the Oil and Gas Industry Shortchanges Women Scientists
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"For those of us who have had the privilege of knowing the feminist sociologist Barrie Thorne, Gender Replay reads like a love letter to her legacy of mentoring, her marvelous ethnographic eye, her moral compass, her transformational work on the sociology of childhoods, and her ability to build community. And for those who do not know Barrie Thorne, the chapters of Gender Replay model for all how to do responsible ethnography, how to mentor with love and creativity, and how to persist with the questions that enable transformational scholarship. In both cases, the book is an absolute delight." ―Raka Ray, The Social Life of Gender
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"This book is a cogent, illuminating, and loving tribute to Barrie’s work, intellectual legacy, and the generations of feminist sociology she inspired." ―Tey Meadow, Trans Kids: Being Gendered in the Twenty-First Century