Neoxtrativism and the Samarco Disaster: Historical Construction of Vulnerability in Anchieta (Es, Brazil) in a Mining-Dependency Context

Abstract

The aim of the current article is to analyze vulnerability in the municipality of Anchieta, Espírito Santo State (ES), Southeastern Brazil, as a historical process, by taking into consideration the implementation of the mining company Samarco in the 1970s as part of the large-scale industrial project policy put in place in the state. Assumingly, as modernization advances, disaster risks emerge within a context of territorial vulnerability, whose effects are not limited to a specific moment in time. Based on interviews conducted with the local population and on consultations in macro-economic data, the study has identified that (1) the vulnerability of Anchieta is correlated to the global modernization process, to the core-periphery model implemented in Latin America and to neoextractivist mining-dependency; (2) the territorial heteronomy renders Anchieta dependent on Samarco operations. In light of Fundão dam’s disaster in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais State (MG), the vulnerability of Anchieta became evident after Samarco operations were interrupted.