CfP: ILWCH Special Issue on Global Labor History of Planning

The Global Labor History of Planning

The International Labor and Working-Class History journal (ILWCH) invites submissions for a special thematic issue on “The Global Labor History of Planning,” edited by Aaron Benanav (Cornell University) and Gautham Shiralagi (Columbia University). This issue seeks to explore the diverse histories of economic planning from a labor perspective, examining both the practical labor of planning and its broader impact on workers.

Labor and the Work of Planning

Market economies have long been criticized for generating rampant insecurity, alienation, and exploitation among workers. In contrast, economic planning was often envisioned—by radical wings of the labor movement and by various social reformers—as a positive alternative. Throughout the 20th century, economic planning was adopted in a variety of forms worldwide, offering different models for organizing labor and production.

While new research on Eastern Bloc and Yugoslavian contexts is welcome, we are also interested in uncovering labor histories of planning in the global South. How did countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and other regions approach economic planning, especially during periods of decolonization, development, and war?

We are interested in the histories of the labor that went into constructing and implementing economic plans. This includes the work of planners, statisticians, administrators, and others who contributed to the development of economic planning. How did their labor shape the strategies and outcomes of planning efforts in different contexts? What were the challenges they faced in the pursuit of partially or fully planned economies? How did these efforts interact with global labor movements and geopolitical dynamics?

This issue also aims to explore visions of how planning was expected to transform work and the lives of laborers. How did planning promise to reconfigure labor, reduce exploitation, and enhance workers’ well-being? What were the roles of workers’ unions or parties in shaping the planning process? What were the experiences of laborers under planned systems, and how did these experiences vary across different regions and periods?

Submission Guidelines

We invite traditional scholarly articles (up to 8,000 words, including footnotes, before peer review). We aim to represent a wide range of historical periods and places, including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, North and South America, Europe, and Oceania.

If you would like to submit an article, please begin by submitting a 250-word abstract that outlines your research question, central argument, and contribution to the special issue. The deadline for abstract submission is 1 October 2025. The abstract should also briefly describe the sources or evidence on which the article is based. Submit your abstract at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ilwch as a “Special Feature Abstract.” If selected, you will be invited to submit a “Special Feature Article” through the same system.