Paisagens da desolação: uma análise sobre a catástrofe socionatural de Brumadinho-MG/2019

Abstract

This dissertation aims to discuss the social and natural impacts of the rupture of the dam I of the Mine of Córrego do Feijão, Brumadinho - MG in 2019, which belonged to Vale S/A. The catastrophe in question, is a fact of international relevance, widely reported by media outlets, leaving hundreds of dead, material losses in the billions of reais, practically irreversible environmental damage, in addition to all the pain and suffering caused to the affected communities. For this discussion we will use analyses of the landscape, considering reports of people victimized by this catastrophe. In this sense, we will approach the landscape from a cultural perspective, which values behavior and the production of meanings and symbolism, with culture as an element that permeates the entire social organization, and also from a humanistic perspective that values the existential aspects of the landscape and the direct relationship of human beings with the Earth. We used a qualitative methodology, with bibliographic processing and a detailed analysis of the victims' accounts, based on two documentaries found on the YouTube online video platform. We believe that our research is justified for two reasons: the first is for becoming another space that gives voice to the affected people; and the second is for presenting a new possibility of analysis about catastrophes and risks, through geography. The work is organized in three main axes: in the first axis, we will introduce the theme, as well as give an overview of the research object, of mining in Brazil, and mainly, a description of the dam failure, its damage and impacts. In a second axis, we will discuss basic theoretical aspects of our research, such as the debate articulated around risks and catastrophes, and also about our perspective on the category of landscape analysis. Finally, we will bring the victims' speeches, making an analysis of them, looking for elements that help to compose a notion of desolation landscapes. Throughout the theoretical and empirical construction of the text, we built the concept of "desolation landscapes", which constitutes a new possibility of understanding the landscape in geography, anchored on the following main aspects: I. An empirical and democratic tool for analysis and perception of risks and catastrophes; II. A category of analysis that expresses the direct connection of the human being with the Earth; III. The disruption of the usual temporal logic of landscape formation. Finally, based on the bibliography and mainly on the analysis of the victims' accounts, we conclude that the landscape has the potential to put the human being back at the center of the debate about risks and catastrophes, since it is this category of analysis that the actors who compose the geographic space experience directly in a daily basis.