Disaster management in mining: an analysis of mediation as a technology of social control

Abstract

Recent disasters involving mining companies in Brazil have drawn attention not only because of the scale of the social and environmental damage caused, but also due to the management practices implemented by the state. In November 2015 the world’s largest iron ore tailings spill occurred when the Samarco dam, located in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais, failed catastrophically. A trail of destruction and death extended downstream for 700km until the mud reached the Atlantic ocean. Accompanying the reconciliation meetings and hearings at the Mariana Justice Forum with local communities, corporations and State officials, I identify some of the traps set by the negotiation space that, rather than offering an ideal condition of autonomy and symmetrical capacity for choice, operates as a mechanism for containing criticism and indirectly manipulating behaviour. Pursuing this line of analysis, the article discusses the political rationality and forms of control contained in extrajudicial conflict resolution strategies.