Interpretations of Marx

Marx's social theory was one of the great intellectual achievements of the nineteenth century, comparable and often compared with Darwin's theory of evolution. Its remarkable synthesis of ideas from philosophy, history and the nascent social sciences, the originality of the conceptions which it expressed, were unrivalled in the work of any other contemporary thinker. The theory was unique, moreover, in its close relationship with the political movements of the time. Marx set out to change the world, as well as to interpret it, and his theoretical analysis of the course of social development, especially in the modern capitalist societies, was also intended to have a practical effect by helping to form the consciousness of the industrial working class - the class, in Marx's words, to which the future belongs'.

Yet the very breadth of Marx's synthesis, which he was far from elaborating in all its aspects, and the problems posed by the connections between Marxist theory and Marxist practice through a century of profound social changes have given rise to diverse formulations of the Marxist theory itself. These different, often conflicting, interpretations have been affected both by changing political circumstances and by the piecemeal discovery and publication of some of Marx's manuscripts, which have raised new questions about the development of his thought.