{"id":23635,"date":"2025-04-21T16:39:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T14:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/?page_id=23635"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:58:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T09:58:30","slug":"verlust","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/research\/verlust\/","title":{"rendered":"The Management of Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/jgu-base-pageheader>\n\n\n
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Beyond their short-term impacts, catastrophic events mark the beginning of long-lasting processes of political, social, and cultural restructuring. This can include the provision of governmental and non-governmental assistance to key groups considered particularly affected, as well as the rearrangement of social relations between various actors. This research project focuses on the consequences and repercussions of the 2019 collapse of the tailings dam of the waste disposal basin of an iron-ore mining site in Brumadinho, a small town in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The overflow of toxic mud killed 272 people and devastated the surrounding area, with heavy-metal-laden waste also spilling into the nearby river of Paraopeba, undermining the livelihood of those residing along and near the river, with the impact compounded by the presumed contamination of the region\u2019s agricultural products following the dam\u2019s collapse. By ethnographically examining the ongoing compensation processes in the aftermath of this catastrophic incident, the research project seeks to understand how perceptions of social and moral responsibility relate to processes of legal mitigation and conceptions of reparation in a post-disaster context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-image>\n\n\n

The dam\u2019s collapse caught Brumadinho completely unprepared, with the mine\u2019s operators initially representing the incident as unforeseeable. However, investigations subsequently revealed that the safety certificate for the tailings dam issued in September 2018 was processed under questionable conditions. Certain that both the mining company (Vale S.A.) and the testing company (T\u00dcV S\u00fcd Brasil) knew about the dam\u2019s vulnerability, those affected avoid calling the event a \u201cdisaster,\u201c a \u201ctragedy,\u201c an \u201cenvironmental catastrophe,\u201c or even an \u201cindustrial accident.\u201c Instead, to emphasize its human-made, negligent character, they refer to a \u201ctrag\u00e9dia-crime\u201c (\u201ctragedy-crime\u201c) or \u201cdesastre-crime\u201c (\u201cdisaster-crime\u201c). However, they also conceive of the incident through a kind of dual modality: On the one hand, the dam\u2019s collapse in January 2019 marked a specific, exceptional event that shook the community to its core and changed its socioeconomic status. Although the collapse itself has become an integral part of local memory practices, it also forms the affective-political basis for claiming reforms in the mining sector. On the other hand, what happened in Brumadinho corresponds to a historical-processual understanding that renders the collapse of the tailings dam and its consequences as<\/em> culmination points of ongoing (post)colonial socio-political inequalities and power relations. The complexities underlying this understanding operate in the shadow of a Brazilian national narrative of progress and development that is increasingly challenged by contemporary global debates, whether environmental movements or critiques of extractive economies in Latin America in conjunction with decolonization efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \n<\/jgu-base-image>\n\n\n

To trace the connections between local, Brazilian national, and global political discourses of justice and demonstrate how they unfold in the aftermath of the tailings dam collapse in Brumadinho, this research project examines three different aspects and levels of participation. By following the everyday institutional practices of a policy unit situated at the interface of health and social services in Brumadinho, this research traces the administrative and practical processes of negotiating claims at the municipal level. It also considers public hearings, meetings held by the city\u2019s community associations, and the activities of NGOs that provide technical and legal advice to those affected along the Paraopeba to grasp the ways in which affected people make their political voices heard in public. In addition, the research accompanies commemorative events related to the collapse of the tailings dam to understand the memory practices associated with political mobilization. Finally, by closely participating in the everyday life of the various affected communities, the project examines how people in Brumadinho relate to this human-made catastrophe, how they contend with their living and non-living environment today, and how they imagine an alternative future beyond the confines of an extractive economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workshops<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2025. “In the Wake of Extractivism – Navigations of Knowledge, Un\/Certainties, and Repair.” International final workshop of the project, organized by Heike Drotbohm & Theresa Mentrup, Institute for Cultural Anthropology and African Studies (ifeas), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (23-25 October 2025).

Programme<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2024. “S\u00f3 tirar poeira? Debater e repensar o conjunto de meio ambiente, sa\u00fade e condi\u00e7\u00f5es de vida no quotidiano p\u00f3s-rompimento em Brumadinho.” Participatory workshop with research participants, organized by Theresa Mentrup & Heike Drotbohm, content preparation supported by Rede Igrejas e Minera\u00e7\u00e3o Minas Gerais, Community Center Aranha \/ Brumadinho (26 February 2024). <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Publications<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2024 Mentrup, Theresa. \u201eDie Katastrophe von Brumadinho und die deutsche Verantwortung.\u201c<\/a> In Bl\u00e4tter f\u00fcr deutsche und internationale Politik<\/em> 01\u201924, S. 29-33.<\/td><\/tr>
2023 Mentrup, Theresa. “Repercussions of Responsibility: Retracing Transnational Moral Obligations after the Brumadinho Dam Collapse.” In Morality as Organizational Practice: Negotiating, Performing, and Navigating Moral Standards in Contexts of Work<\/em>, edited by Sarah May, Stefan Groth & Johannes M\u00fcske, pp. 153-168. M\u00fcnster: Waxmann. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Conference papers<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2024 \u201eRuinen der Zukunft? Zeitliche Dimensionen von Extraktivismus und Reparatur in Brumadinho (Brasilien),\u201d Vortrag von Heike Drotbohm & Theresa Mentrup im Rahmen des Institutskolloquiums, Institut f\u00fcr Ethnologie und Afrikastudien (ifeas), Johannes Gutenberg-Universit\u00e4t Mainz (19. November 2024). <\/td><\/tr>
2024 \u201e(K)Ein Feind in Brumadinho? Ethische und methodologische Reflektionen zu ethnographischer Forschung in einer brasilianischen Bergbauregion,\u201d Beitrag von Theresa Mentrup im Rahmen des Workshops der Regionalgruppe S\u00fcdamerika der Deutschen Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie (DGSKA), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit\u00e4t M\u00fcnchen (8.-9. November 2024). <\/td><\/tr>
2024 “N\u00f3s mulheres somos \u00e1gua: Impress\u00f5es de Brumadinho (Minas Gerais) para repensar a rela\u00e7\u00e3o de \u00e1gua, minera\u00e7\u00e3o e g\u00eanero,” contribution by Theresa Mentrup as part of the summer school “Kulturraum Amazonien. Encounter, Exchange, Contradiction,” Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (July 23-26, 2024). <\/td><\/tr>
2022, “Of mud and men: Negotiating ‘risk’ after the ‘Brumadinho dam disaster’ (Minas Gerais \/ Brazil),” Laboratory contribution by Theresa Mentrup as part of the6th<\/sup> Vienna Ethnography Lab “Relating Risks” at the University of Vienna \/ Austria (September 28-30, 2022).<\/td><\/tr>
2022, “‘Quanto Vale<\/em> a vida?’ Retracing everyday life after the ‘Brumadinho dam disaster’ (Minas Gerais \/ Brazil),” Conference paper by Theresa Mentrup at the VIII Congress of the Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Portuguesa de Antropologia (APA) “Os Novos Anos 20: Desafios, Incertezas e Resist\u00eancias” at the University of \u00c9vora \/ Portugal and online (September 7-9, 2022).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Media appearances<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
“AVABRUM recebe a visita de uma pesquisadora alem\u00e3 para pautar Brumadinho”, Portal da Cidade Brumadinho, June 28, 2022, by AVABRUM.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/jgu-base-section>
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Beyond their short-term impacts, catastrophic events mark the beginning of long-lasting processes of political, social, and cultural restructuring. This can include the provision of governmental and non-governmental assistance to key groups considered particularly affected, as well as the rearrangement of social relations between various actors. This research project focuses on the consequences and repercussions of the 2019 collapse of the tailings dam of the waste disposal basin of an iron-ore mining site in Brumadinho, a small town in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The overflow of toxic mud killed 272 people and devastated the surrounding area, with heavy-metal-laden waste also spilling into the nearby river of Paraopeba, undermining the livelihood of those residing along and near the river, with the impact compounded by the presumed contamination of the region\u2019s agricultural products following the dam\u2019s collapse. By ethnographically examining the ongoing compensation processes in the aftermath of this catastrophic incident, the research project seeks to understand how perceptions of social and moral responsibility relate to processes of legal mitigation and conceptions of reparation in a post-disaster context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

The dam\u2019s collapse caught Brumadinho completely unprepared, with the mine\u2019s operators initially representing the incident as unforeseeable. However, investigations subsequently revealed that the safety certificate for the tailings dam issued in September 2018 was processed under questionable conditions. Certain that both the mining company (Vale S.A.) and the testing company (T\u00dcV S\u00fcd Brasil) knew about the dam\u2019s vulnerability, those affected avoid calling the event a \u201cdisaster,\u201c a \u201ctragedy,\u201c an \u201cenvironmental catastrophe,\u201c or even an \u201cindustrial accident.\u201c Instead, to emphasize its human-made, negligent character, they refer to a \u201ctrag\u00e9dia-crime\u201c (\u201ctragedy-crime\u201c) or \u201cdesastre-crime\u201c (\u201cdisaster-crime\u201c). However, they also conceive of the incident through a kind of dual modality: On the one hand, the dam\u2019s collapse in January 2019 marked a specific, exceptional event that shook the community to its core and changed its socioeconomic status. Although the collapse itself has become an integral part of local memory practices, it also forms the affective-political basis for claiming reforms in the mining sector. On the other hand, what happened in Brumadinho corresponds to a historical-processual understanding that renders the collapse of the tailings dam and its consequences as<\/em> culmination points of ongoing (post)colonial socio-political inequalities and power relations. The complexities underlying this understanding operate in the shadow of a Brazilian national narrative of progress and development that is increasingly challenged by contemporary global debates, whether environmental movements or critiques of extractive economies in Latin America in conjunction with decolonization efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

To trace the connections between local, Brazilian national, and global political discourses of justice and demonstrate how they unfold in the aftermath of the tailings dam collapse in Brumadinho, this research project examines three different aspects and levels of participation. By following the everyday institutional practices of a policy unit situated at the interface of health and social services in Brumadinho, this research traces the administrative and practical processes of negotiating claims at the municipal level. It also considers public hearings, meetings held by the city\u2019s community associations, and the activities of NGOs that provide technical and legal advice to those affected along the Paraopeba to grasp the ways in which affected people make their political voices heard in public. In addition, the research accompanies commemorative events related to the collapse of the tailings dam to understand the memory practices associated with political mobilization. Finally, by closely participating in the everyday life of the various affected communities, the project examines how people in Brumadinho relate to this human-made catastrophe, how they contend with their living and non-living environment today, and how they imagine an alternative future beyond the confines of an extractive economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workshops<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2025. \"In the Wake of Extractivism - Navigations of Knowledge, Un\/Certainties, and Repair.\" International final workshop of the project, organized by Heike Drotbohm & Theresa Mentrup, Institute for Cultural Anthropology and African Studies (ifeas), Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (23-25 October 2025).

Programme<\/a><\/td><\/tr>
2024. \"S\u00f3 tirar poeira? Debater e repensar o conjunto de meio ambiente, sa\u00fade e condi\u00e7\u00f5es de vida no quotidiano p\u00f3s-rompimento em Brumadinho.\" Participatory workshop with research participants, organized by Theresa Mentrup & Heike Drotbohm, content preparation supported by Rede Igrejas e Minera\u00e7\u00e3o Minas Gerais, Community Center Aranha \/ Brumadinho (26 February 2024). <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Publications<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2024 Mentrup, Theresa. \u201eDie Katastrophe von Brumadinho und die deutsche Verantwortung.\u201c<\/a> In Bl\u00e4tter f\u00fcr deutsche und internationale Politik<\/em> 01\u201924, S. 29-33.<\/td><\/tr>
2023 Mentrup, Theresa. \"Repercussions of Responsibility: Retracing Transnational Moral Obligations after the Brumadinho Dam Collapse.\" In Morality as Organizational Practice: Negotiating, Performing, and Navigating Moral Standards in Contexts of Work<\/em>, edited by Sarah May, Stefan Groth & Johannes M\u00fcske, pp. 153-168. M\u00fcnster: Waxmann. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Conference papers<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
2024 \u201eRuinen der Zukunft? Zeitliche Dimensionen von Extraktivismus und Reparatur in Brumadinho (Brasilien),\u201d Vortrag von Heike Drotbohm & Theresa Mentrup im Rahmen des Institutskolloquiums, Institut f\u00fcr Ethnologie und Afrikastudien (ifeas), Johannes Gutenberg-Universit\u00e4t Mainz (19. November 2024). <\/td><\/tr>
2024 \u201e(K)Ein Feind in Brumadinho? Ethische und methodologische Reflektionen zu ethnographischer Forschung in einer brasilianischen Bergbauregion,\u201d Beitrag von Theresa Mentrup im Rahmen des Workshops der Regionalgruppe S\u00fcdamerika der Deutschen Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Sozial- und Kulturanthropologie (DGSKA), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit\u00e4t M\u00fcnchen (8.-9. November 2024). <\/td><\/tr>
2024 \"N\u00f3s mulheres somos \u00e1gua: Impress\u00f5es de Brumadinho (Minas Gerais) para repensar a rela\u00e7\u00e3o de \u00e1gua, minera\u00e7\u00e3o e g\u00eanero,\" contribution by Theresa Mentrup as part of the summer school \"Kulturraum Amazonien. Encounter, Exchange, Contradiction,\" Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (July 23-26, 2024). <\/td><\/tr>
2022, \"Of mud and men: Negotiating 'risk' after the 'Brumadinho dam disaster' (Minas Gerais \/ Brazil),\" Laboratory contribution by Theresa Mentrup as part of the6th<\/sup> Vienna Ethnography Lab \"Relating Risks\" at the University of Vienna \/ Austria (September 28-30, 2022).<\/td><\/tr>
2022, \"'Quanto Vale<\/em> a vida?' Retracing everyday life after the 'Brumadinho dam disaster' (Minas Gerais \/ Brazil),\" Conference paper by Theresa Mentrup at the VIII Congress of the Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Portuguesa de Antropologia (APA) \"Os Novos Anos 20: Desafios, Incertezas e Resist\u00eancias\" at the University of \u00c9vora \/ Portugal and online (September 7-9, 2022).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Media appearances<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
\"AVABRUM recebe a visita de uma pesquisadora alem\u00e3 para pautar Brumadinho\", Portal da Cidade Brumadinho, June 28, 2022, by AVABRUM.<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/852"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23635"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26188,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/23635\/revisions\/26188"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/19079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifeas.uni-mainz.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}