MULTISPECIES LANDSCAPES IN MINING RUINS: ANALYZING (RE)ORGANIZATION PRACTICES FROM SPACE IN MARIANA, MG, BRAZIL
Name: MARIA CLARA DE OLIVEIRA LEITE
Publication date: 13/02/2023
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ALEXANDRE REIS ROSA | Advisor * |
| LETICIA DIAS FANTINEL | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| KATIA CYRLENE DE ARAUJO VASCONCELOS | Internal Examiner * |
| LETICIA DIAS FANTINEL | Advisor * |
Summary: Human disturbances produce consequences in multispecies landscapes. The effects of these disturbances allow shedding light on organizational practices to maintain life in spaces WHERE they occur and perpetuate over time. This qualitative research has the following research question: How are spaces (re)organized in multispecies landscapes produced from iron mining? In this sense, we aimed to analyze the spatial organizing through practices in the multispecies landscapes disturbed by the mining industry after the collapse of the Fundão dam, owned by Samarco Mineração SA; Vale SA; and BHP Billiton do Brasil Ltda. The dam collapse happened in November 2015 in Mariana, Minas Gerais State/Brazil. A wave of mud destroyed many communities in the region. The disaster is considered the largest in recorded history based on a magnitude index that creates a single vector out of data for release, run out, and deaths. This thesis dialogues with studies that discuss organizational spaces based on practices. The research seeks to contribute to filling a gap in approaches in Organizational Studies that conceive spaces as external entities. It also seeks to shed light on perspectives WHERE the human being is at the center. We directed the analysis to a perspective of spaces in which they do not exist independently of spatialization processes. Understanding these practices from a multispecies approach, spaces are continuously practiced from a tangle of more than human relationships. For data collection, non-participant observations were conducted in loco and virtually. Also, semi-structured interviews were led with different groups: a) Affected people and those who represent their communities (committee); b) Members that support the affected people with technical assistance; c) Members of the state; d) Members of the mining companies involved; e) Members of the media. The analysis focused on following the mud. We created the metaphor of the three waves of mud to present the central concepts that emerged from the categories during the analysis. Thus, we described and analyzed three different movements: a) The first wave describes the destroyed communities and practices over time in what we call Old Spaces; b) The second wave includes issues related to the practices of those allocated in what we define as Temporary Spaces; c) The third wave is related to what we call New Spaces, the resettlements WHERE those affected people will move. It includes practices related to the reorganization of life and housing in the region. We used the mentioned metaphor to support the argument that the repair and compensation processes caused destructive effects perpetuated over time through spaces. We expect ruins in Old Spaces, but we present that the destruction reached not only such spaces but also Temporary and New Spaces, showing the ruins in different ways. We found that destruction proliferates mainly from practices of mischaracterization, withdrawal, silencing, and camouflage. We point out that what connects the practices throughout the analyzed spaces is that post-disaster management led to destruction in spaces WHERE it would not have happened due to the dam collapse itself.
