ABSTRACT

Economic conversion has come to a dead end. The conversion alternative is supposed to provide hope and the opportunity for workers and communities to take control over their own economic circumstances at the local level when these may be threatened by Washington policy changes. The conversion organizer's message about the detrimental effect of the arms race on the economy—a link which is questionable at the national level—is belied by empirical evidence in defense-dependent communities. Conversion advocates also argue that defense dependent communities and workers are on a direct course to economic disaster, suffering, in some way, from this economic condition. The conversion legislative strategy puts its supporters in an inherently marginal political position. The alternative to economic conversion is to take the economic issues seriously on their own terms and to build coalitions with others concerned about the same issues.