The impact of nomenclature attributed to victims of technological environmental disasters: the case of the Fundão dam collapse

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the nomenclature attributed to victims of technological environmental disasters, taking the collapse of the Fundão dam in Mariana, Brazil, as an empirical reference. It discusses how naming practices affect identity construction, rights claims, and processes of recognition in the post-disaster context. Through an analytical and interdisciplinary literature review, the research investigates the multiplicity of terms mobilized to designate both the event and those affected, particularly the categories affected people and disaster victims. It evaluates their adequacy to the examined context and explores their political, communicational, and legal implications. By incorporating a risk communication perspective, the study argues that the selection of specific labels operates as a device of power and a discursive instrument for the symbolic management of the disaster, shaping public perception, institutional narratives, and the legitimization of individuals as victims. The findings indicate that the categories affected persons and internally displaced persons are the most consistent for social and legal recognition. Meanwhile, the notion of internal refugee emerges as a category with significant critical and political potential to convey the gravity of rights violations and processes of deterritorialization. The study concludes that terminological disputes extend beyond semantics; they are communicational and ethical, constituting a central dimension of the power dynamics that define who is heard, who is silenced, and who is recognized.