| This dissertation asserts that Martin Luther King Jr.'s social justice vision was based on a worldview of interconnection. This work examines cosmological and ecological dimensions of King's thought that have been largely overlooked in previous King scholarship.;King's vision connected racism with war and poverty, stressed the unity of peoples and movements around the planet, and recognized the interwoven nature of the universe, which he described as "the interrelated structure of all reality" (King 1968g, 70). His holistic view of the cosmos and society is the hallmark of what I call his Mountaintop Vision.;This work places King's environmental statements within the context of the ecological awakenings of the 1960s, and within the traditions of holistic and ecological thought stretching from indigenous and African worldviews, through the Romantics, and early ecological voices such as Thoreau, Whitman, Carver, Leopold, and Carson. His ecological concerns both reflected his moment and anticipated many of the developments of the following decades.;King's cosmology is placed within the cosmological revolutions of twentieth-century science and the discovery of the expanding universe. King rejected the materialism of twentieth-century science while also appreciating its discoveries and the grandeur of what he referred to as the "stars, planets, meteors, comets. All this galaxy of wonders" (King n.d., "Paint [2]").;In the last years of his life, which I call his Mountaintop Period (1966–68), King identified systemic links between social justice issues that were largely viewed as separate, fusing them into a unified critique that fundamentally challenged the modern system. This work articulates six aspects of King's Mountaintop Vision: (1) connecting justice to the cosmos, (2) emphasizing economic justice, (3) confronting systemic racism, (4) challenging US militarism, (5) exemplifying the prophetic path, and (6) building a global movement. King's worldview constituted a cosmology of justice in which interdependence and compassion are woven into the fabric of the cosmos itself. In King's view, "the universe is on the side of justice" (Ayres 1993, 225).;This dissertation examines King's speeches, sermons, and writings to demonstrate his vision of radical connection. I argue that King's view of existence as a "network of mutuality," in which "all life is interrelated" (King 1968g, 69), should be recognized as an early expression of a socially aware, politically engaged systems thinking and ecological consciousness. King's Mountaintop Vision linked social justice, cosmology, and ecology in a way that may yet provide guidance for our future. |
