Stunning for me to see the widening gap between French and American liberal intellectuals. Identity politics are despised by the French elite. The French Education minister, the former head of a reputed academic establishment,just denounced intersectionality and "Islamo-leftism".

The current government, a liberal centrist pro-EU team, is denounced by US commentators as pandering to the far-right for its policy against Islamism. Whereas for many French liberals, the fights against the far-right and against radical Islam are part of the same struggle.

French liberals are not ready to give up on universalism. The idea of essentializing people through their identity runs directly contrary to a culture that values freedom from religion (first and foremost Catholicism) or communities.