Please join us for our first 2026 Reed Fink Award Talk “From the Winpisinger Papers to the Present: Labor, Militarism, and the Politics of Economic Conversion” by Jennifer Greenburg Assistant Professor, International Relations, University of Sheffield. What can the papers of labor leader William Winpisinger tell us about the politics of war and military spending today? Drawing on research in the Winpisinger Papers alongside ethnographic research conducted in communities shaped by the military-industrial complex—including Marietta, Georgia, home to Lockheed Martin's aircraft manufacturing plant—this talk explores how military spending becomes accepted as common sense. While defense production is often understood as essential for jobs, local economies, and national security, both the archive and contemporary fieldwork reveal more complex and contradictory understandings. Winpisinger's advocacy of economic conversion reminds us that labor movements have not always accepted permanent war as an economic necessity. Bringing these historical materials into conversation with contemporary debates over U.S. militarism, the talk considers what this alternative labor tradition can contribute to discussions about military spending, economic security, and building more peaceful futures.