Academics against Academia: Explaining Accusations of “Islamo-leftism” in French Academia

This article examines the public engagement of academics in the controversy over “Islamo-leftism” in France (2020–2023), framed around university activism and its alleged ties to religious fundamentalism. It draws on a corpus analysis of press articles and essays, a prosopographical study of the academics involved, and a network analysis designed to map the media proximities of these actors. The public engagement of academics against “islamo-leftism” turns out to be part of a broader movement that structures a cultural axis within political life and reinforces conservative positions across the intellectual, political, and media fields. To understand their contribution to this movement, it is important to emphasize that, at the intersection of these fields, an interstitial space has emerged, providing visibility to a new type of intellectual whose standing depends not on scientific expertise but on the ability to act as an intermediary between different forms of power.