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Converting the Military Industrial Economy: The Experience at Six Facilities

Sabina Deitrick

Ann Markusen

This paper addresses the task of converting military facilities to civilian uses, differentiat ing demand side from supply side approaches. We distinguish four alternative models of conversion from military to civilian use, each organized around a different target: converting the company, converting the community economic base, converting the worker, and converting the facility. After some discussion of each approach we scrutinize the last of these, which is in many ways the most difficult and yet the most attractive in terms of retaining jobs and stabilizing communities. After stating both strict and broader criteria for judging "success," we present the results of six geographically-dispersed and industrially- diverse case studies of such conversion efforts in the 1980s. While to date none has succeeded in the narrow sense of preserving jobs, these experiments have had a significant impact on public thinking about the formidable tasks of conversion. Several have resulted in state or regional studies, legislation, and economic development efforts. As a group, the cases demonstrate the ability and willingness of defense workers to plan for civilian work. In some, local conversion planning has led to an alliance between labor and peace organizations which has strength ened the political clout and institutional capabilities of both.

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