The Different Approaches to Disasters and the Role of the Social Sciences: The Case of Brumadinho

This article proposes treating the collapse of the tailings dam in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, as a socially constructed disaster. The natural, applied and social sciences are based on different theoretical approaches, resulting in multiple ways of understanding and dealing with disaster situations. The article discusses the main differences between these strands, and looks at the case of Brumadinho, which suffered a rupture in 2019. The contrast between the approaches, together with a more detailed analysis of the circumstances surrounding the event, suggest that the perspective of socially constructed disasters has the potential to offer adequate analytical tools for understanding the case. Therefore, we suggest that knowledge of the socio-economic, demographic and political characteristics of the region are fundamental to explaining the triggering of the events observed. The great influence of the mining companies, the porosity of the public sector to the demands of this group, the lack of necessary investment by the supervisory bodies and the low capacity for political mobilization to prevent the installation of dams on the part of the populations present in these localities are some examples. We conclude with a call for more in-depth analysis of the case, which consistently takes into account the broader social context that permeates the occurrence of disasters.