Écrire et éditer une histoire philosophique et politique : l’Histoire des deux Indes de l’abbé Raynal (1770-1780)

Dealing with the making and success of Histoire des deux Indes, its scope and ideological goals, this paper combines the historical approach with textual analysis so as to highlight the richness, complexity and import of a pioneering text in the fields of colonial administration and political economics, among other interests. Assessing the studies devoted to this work over the last few decades, the article specifically examines Raynal’s actual contribution to this Histoire des deux Indes which was published under his name but written by more than one hand, a contribution which has been philosophically and politically questioned.