Electromagnetic fields address configurational forces in a natural way through an energy-stress tensor, which reduces to the Maxwell tensor in the simplest case. This tensor is related to physical forces and to the Cauchy traction in a continuum. Material forces, as opposed to physical forces, are of a different nature as they act upon a site of a continuum where the possible material inhomogeneity is located. A material energy-stress tensor, which is reminiscent of the Maxwell stress, is associated with these forces. Through appropriate balance laws, a material momentum is also associated with material forces. The material momentum is of particular interest in electromagnetic materials as it is intimately related to the pseudomomentum of light
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