Mariana Luiza Fiocco Machini

In Brazil in 2015 occurred the world’s biggest socio-environmental disaster due to mining activity. It affected at least 45 municipalities, 2.2 million people and contaminated the environment with heavy metals. The collapse of the ‘Fundão’ dam completely transformed the affected populations lifestyles and the disaster damage only worsened almost 8 years later. My research investigates the tactics of these populations to recreate lives in landscapes of death, considering disasters reshape people’s memories and relationships of affection with the environment. This research advances theoretical and methodological debates in anthropology of disasters, environmental anthropology and socio-environmental justice by taking the local responses of the affected populations seriously, understanding their different territorialities, practices, relationships with the landscapes and their own understandings of the terms “disaster” and landscape” as elements of their everyday life. To do so, I will conduct a comparative study in two affected cities with semi-structured interviews, ethnographic incursions through landscapes, collection of life stories, and participant observations in meetings and events that are part of the daily life of these populations. This research draws attention to the Global South countries seen as unlimited sources of resources and offers insights into the updates of the colonial system and decoloniality.