Ever since Emmanuel Macron’s improbable ascent to the French presidency in 2017, admirers have sought to portray him as a defender of Europe’s liberal values—a rampart against the temptations of populism in an increasingly unstable world. That narrative was always debatable, but never before in the course of his presidency has it appeared as empty as it does now. Over the past few months, Macron and his party have been trampling all over basic liberal values as they seek to make political gains.
The latest one to fall by the wayside is academic freedom. After going on a far-right news network to bash the supposed scourge of “Islamo-leftism” corrupting French universities, Higher Education Minister Frédérique Vidal has vowed to launch an investigation into research practices. It’s still unclear what the study will look like—or even how seriously it will be taken—but no matter what, it doesn’t bode well. A staunch critic of postcolonial studies and the idea of intersectionality, Vidal told Parliament her goal was to distinguish “academic research” from “activism and opinion.”
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