Anti-Intellectualism in Illiberal France: A Soft Authoritarian State at Work

This interview with Éric Fassin, Professor of Sociology at Université Paris 8, on the upsurge of anti-intellectualism in France considers it as part of the soft authoritarian practices gaining ground under President Macron. Fassin begins by introducing the concept of actualité, which he uses as a methodological tool to analyse unfolding disruptive events that are historically embedded though not fully formed yet. He identifies 2005 as a turning point that links the dismantling of liberal democratic norms to the rise of neoliberal governance, and the mainstreaming of far-right discourse along with increasing postcolonial tensions around the banlieues. He points to a logic of inversion whereby republican values such as universalism and laïcité are instrumentalized to target ethnic minorities/immigrants as well as to discredit critical scholarship. The convergence of neoliberalism and neofascist tendencies fosters inequality and exclusion while redirecting popular resentment towards religious and ethnic minorities as well as intellectual and cultural elites defending minority rights. The interview addresses an important facet of soft authoritarian rule, namely a pervasive anti-intellectualism that undermines critical knowledge production. Intellectuals can only ignore these assaults on academic freedom at their own peril.