Imagining co-operatives?

2026 Special issue: Imagining co-operatives?

Co-operatives and co-operative economy in art and culture

Call for papers

For this special issue, Dr Anita Mangan, editor of the Journal, will be joined by guest editors Dr Aidan Byrne, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, and Professor Martin Parker, Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Bristol Business School.

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For many decades, the Journal of Co-operative Studies has delineated the ideals and practices of co-operation in theory and in practice. Now we turn to the imagination. This special issue calls for exploration of the cultural imaginaries of co-operation, whether in popular culture (film, video games, soap opera, and drama), in ‘literature’ and popular fiction, and in creative non-fiction (manifestos, calls to action, art, and even music) and within cultural co-operatives themselves.

The editors welcome submissions ranging from full academic articles/research papers (7,000 words), as well as short articles (4,000 words), and short think pieces (approx. 1,000 words) from practitioners — please see the Journal’s guidelines for submissionfor information on Journal style and formatting.

Key dates

Accepted papers will be published in a special issue of the Journal in 2026.

Potential topics for contributions to a special issue of the Journal of Co-operative Studies might include (but are not limited to):

• Co-operatives and co-operation in literature and popular culture
• Imagining co-operation
• Co-operation, character development, and plot
• Alternative economic realities
• Feminist, anarchist, and environmentalist co-operative fictions
• Utopia and dystopia
• Speculative fiction
• Didactic / educational work
• Imagined intentional communities
• Conditions of creating co-operative art

See full call for papers, below.