Environmental materialism: A study of relationships among matter.

Environmental materialism is a theory of relationships split out in a tripartite formula that looks at the relationship between A and B, with C being the relationship between A and B. Currently the status quo of human relationships with nature is that of human superiority over nature. Environmental materialism redefines this perspective to that of viewing humans as nature in a relationship with non-human matter. This is important because it raises important questions about matter, agency, ethics, spirituality, and social justice. This thesis looks at each of these concepts grounded in current theory and in conjunction with environmental materialism to create a pathway to comic books as social justice and as accessible education. I create this bridge by putting environmental materialism into conversation with Calvin and Hobbes, the comic strip by Bill Watterson, and concluding my thesis with a historical account of education as activism through Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Black Panther, the comic strip and movie.