Framing Symbols and Space: Counterrecruitment and Resistance to the U.S. Military in Public Education

Despite recent federal laws providing military recruiters unprecedented access to public schools and student information, sociologists have given scant attention to the militarization of education or the military counterrecruitment movement in the United States. Semistructured in‐depth interviews with counterrecruiters reveal five framing campaigns used to resist the armed forces' efforts to dominate the symbolic discourse in public schools: 1) the rendition of information, 2) educational space, 3) heroic military narrative, 4) educational mission, and 5) vocational vision. Analysis examining the interaction of space and social movement framing reveals how counterrecruiters compete with military recruiters over the U.S. public education's foundational values and symbols. This article advances our understanding of the counterrecruitment movement in U.S. public schools and how space influences social movement framing through the concepts of spatial legitimacy, spatial authorities, and spatial protocols.