Learning from Flint: How Matter Imposes Itself in the Anthropocene and What That Means for Education

In this chapter, we explore one aspect of the Anthropocene, the vital, vibrant connections between life and matter (Whatmore, Cultural Geographies 13(4):600–609, 2006.). Drawing on the effectivity of water as a solution and the “Flint water crisis,” we explore how humans tend not to notice matter unless it brings an effect upon them. Our approach follows Melinda Benson, (Natural Resources Journal 59:251–280, 2019) in seeking to decenter human exceptionalism and explore the chemical and biological actors relationally engaged in a system with humans engendering phenomena that are unpredictable as we demonstrate in a case study of the City of Flint and its access to drinking water for humans. As this case highlights, often matter only becomes noticed when it establishes an ontological disturbance forcing itself on human experience and becoming noticed in the process. Important elements of such “noticing” are tied up with the human-material intra-actions engendering phenomena that is shaped by race and geographic history. Rather than constructing Flint and other examples as emergencies or crises that need to be solved, education should explore the dynamic nature of these events and the intra-actions of all elements. This approach offers one strategy for transforming what K–12 science education looks like for both developing scientists and everyday citizens.