This paper presents data from research with young mixed heritage people attending a multi-ethnic gender-mixed comprehensive in London to show how the intersections between class, gender and racial/cultural mix impact on their everyday and educational lives in different ways (McCall 2005). It draws on the discourses of cosmopolitanism and individualism (Rose 1998; Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2001; Beck 2006; Furlong and Cartmel 2008) within the contexts of race, personhood and education to frame a discussion of the data. In Britain, the cosmopolitan discourse underpins the idea that mixed heritage identity presages an enlightened race-free world in which people of all colours and cultures are fully recognised and affirmatively embraced. The students in this study reflected this perspective, and unequivocally believed that mixedness encouraged intercultural understanding and represented a progressive society. There were, however, marked differences along the lines of class in terms of how the discourses of cosmopolitanism and individualism actually played out in students’ lives. Middle class students, especially girls, regarded mixedness as a desirable identity and tended to fit comfortably into the middle class school habitus – they did well at school, saw themselves as equal to all others and believed that their racial heritage had no bearing on the opportunities available to them. In contrast, students from working class backgrounds, especially boys, expressed what I would call a ‘thwarted cosmopolitanism’ in that they embraced its values whilst often struggling with the negative effects of race, class and gender in the form of misconceptions, stereotyping, racial profiling and discrimination. The findings destabilise neo-liberal assumptions evident in education policy and public discourse which suggest that we are moving towards a more cosmopolitan, meritocratic and egalitarian society in which race, class and gender are no longer politically or socially significant issues. These students' articulations about what it is like to be mixed race in a London today often makes for uncomfortable reading. Their views and experiences clearly contradict the popular belief that individuals are the makers of their own destinies, and call for an end to the abiding social structures which continue to shape many mixed heritage people's lives in unjust ways.

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