Territory and deterritorialization: the social suffering by environmental disaster resulting from the breaking of mining dams

Abstract

In Mariana, state of Minas Gerais, after the Fundão Dam rupture, families went through a process of deterritorialization, in which they were moved from rural to urban areas. Thus, the aim of the study was to understand the process of deterritorialization in this context, the implications of the loss
of this social locus for the lives of those affected and for the construction of public health responses and policies. A qualitative research was conducted from 2016 to 2018 in the city of Mariana, using participant observation techniques and interviews with affected people. The interviews were analyzed based on Content Analysis and the discussion was guided by the theoretical framework of the concepts of territory,
deterritorialization, and social suffering. In the observation and reports of the participants, the symbolic relationship with their place of origin is remarkable, translated in the form of bonds and belonging. Losses, in their different dimensions, impact life from grief to social suffering. Until the resettlement is achieved, it is necessary that the interpretations of this new living are not pathologized so that people can be aware of this process and be the protagonists of their choices.