Introduction: The lure and the trap
Part I. The origins of the identity synthesis
Postwar Paris and the Trial of Truth
The end of empire and embrace of "strategic essentialism"
The rejection of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of critical race theory
Part II. The victory of the identity synthesis
The short march through the institutions
Part III. The flaws of the identity synthesis
How to understand each other
The joys of mutual influence
On structural racism, gender, and meritocracy
Part IV. In defense of universalism
A response to the identity synthesis
A brief case for the liberal alternative
Conclusion: How to escape the identity trap.
