Abstract
Taking the Marx-Engels-Gesamtausgabe (MEGA) as a case study, this article shows how the processes of publishing the editions of social or ‘grand’ theories are involved in shaping the theories themselves. Through reviewing and critically re-reading the research literature available up to this point, this article distinguishes three such processes: recovery, reconstruction and redefinition. These categories, which the article illustrates through examples from the history of the MEGA, aim to highlight the fact that the way in which editions shape theories involves a material, methodical and interpretive dimension. Through this, the article aims first to point at a different approach to the history of Marxism and Marxist scholarship; second, by putting editions centre stage, the article makes the case for an alternative way of reconstructing the history of social theories.
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