Coloniality of power and social control strategies in mining: an analysis of MAM activists’ narratives

Abstract

Brazil has experienced the expansion of mining in recent years, guided mainly by the neoextractive model. This exploitation model has been imposed by a hegemonic discourse that considers mining as a need for the development of periphery countries. But cases such as the failure of the dams in Mariana and Brumadinho confirm that this model has brought more negative impacts than benefits and development for the local communities. In this context, many resistance movements have emerged to confront mineral exploitation. At the same time, mining companies have adopted strategies to protect their interests. The study objective is to analyse the strategies of social control adopted by corporations to guarantee their domination in mining territories, based on the narratives of activists from the Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining (MAM), interpreted from the perspective of coloniality of power. Results reveal that mining companies are central agents in neoextractivism, reproducing the coloniality of power through social control strategies, reinforcing subalternisation of vulnerable populations and making it more difficult for communities to resist mining.

Keywords:

• Coloniality of power
• mining
• social movements
• extractive model
• decolonial approach
• narratives

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Vale is a transnational corporation, responsible for the majority of mining projects and mining disasters in Brazil. Although it is not the only company involved in mining exploration in the country, it is the most powerful player that implements neoextractivist strategies.

2 According to the Ministry of Citizenship (Brasil 2015), Quilombolas are remnants of an ethnic-racial group, with their own cultural identity, formed through a historical process of resistance by runaway slaves during the period of slavery in Brazil.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais – FAPEMIG.

Notes on contributors

Andreina Del Carmen Camero de Lima

Andreina Del Carmen Camero de Lima has a PhD in business and works as an administrative assistant at the Federal University of Lavras. Her main research interests are development, the decolonial approach, extractive industries, and environmental studies.

Flávia Luciana Naves Mafra

Flávia Luciana Naves Mafra has a PhD in social sciences – development, agriculture and society. She is currently Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Federal University of Lavras and Coordinator of the Laboratory of Transdisciplinary Studies (LETRA). Her main areas of research are labour, social movements, development, environmental studies, and forms of organisation in capitalist society.