A Fundação Renova como forma corporativa: Estratégias empresariais e arranjos institucionais no desastre da Samarco/Vale/BHP Billiton no rio Doce, Mariana (MG)

Abstract

November 5th marked the life of entire communities. The failure of the Fundão dam, operated by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and BHP Billiton, caused deaths and damages along the 600 km traversed by the sea of ​​mud in the course of the Doce river basin, from Mariana to the coast of Espírito Santo. To manage the crisis and deal with the repair process, the companies responsible for the disaster, in partnership with some agencies of the Brazilian State, created an apparently unprecedented figure under the logic of a corporate foundation presented as autonomous, called the Renova Foundation. The institutional treatment given to the disaster restructured power relations between public agencies, the judiciary, and civil society entities and social movements.

Based on ethnographic observations and analysis of documents dealing with institutional agreements linked to the foundation, in this article we ask ourselves about its said autonomy, analyzing its position in the disaster governance system, as well as elements of its creation, internal structure and trajectory of some of its directors. What is Renova's level of involvement with companies? How does it present itself in the face of the debate about reparatory processes? What can it tell us about corporate strategies involving neo-extractive conflicts? How do affected populations deal with the Foundation in the discussion arenas? Through some answers to these questions, we suggest here that the Renova Foundation can be considered a corporate form that offers versatility to the interventions of mining companies to manage the crisis.