Adam Smith: Critical Theorist?

The bicentenary of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations in 1976 was marked by the publication of a new complete edition of his works and correspondence, bringing together for the first time all extant published and unpublished writings. A basis was thereby provided for serious reconsideration of Adam Smith's work, and since the early 1980s many conventional assumptions concerning Smith's work and contemporary significance have been challenged. This paper surveys the foundations upon which this new, “historical” Adam Smith has been constructed, and assesses the merits of the principal claims which have recently been made for his work.