Paper short abstract:

I consider the “mining temporalities” as traces embodied by asbestos workers and visible on desolate landscapes, representing the effects of a violence perpetrated “in times of peace” by asbestos lobbies, worldwide. Particularly, the discussed data emerged from an ethnographic fieldwork in Brazil.

Paper long abstract:

Asbestos, whose etymology means eternal, indicates a variety of minerals used as raw material in several industrial sectors, despite their carcinogenicity is being demonstrated by biomedical studies since the 1960's.

Brazil is among the major asbestos producing countries, with two mines (one of them still active), and asbestos-cement plants. I discuss data collected there, between August 2014 and October 2015, while I was investigating the activism of ABREA-Associação Brasileira dos Expostos ao Amianto (Brazilian Association of Exposed to Asbestos), based in Osasco, São Paulo.

Time is being a useful "tool" to think about the explored practices. In fact, by considering the effects of asbestos economics on distinct levels, visible and perceivable past(s), linked to asbestos mining and manufacturing, represented a strong "presence" during my fieldwork.

First, I refer to the embodiment of "mining temporalities" by taking into account the experiences of asbestos-related diseases, characterised by a long latency period, and lived by the majority of my research collaborators. Second, I present the case of an abandoned asbestos mine situated in Bom Jesus da Serra, in the Brazilian state of Bahia, where the remaining ghost village and huge cavity, dug into the mountain, are visible, and dangerous, signs of a past time of violent exploitation made by asbestos lobbies. Last, I reflect on the challenges encountered while investigating practices and meanings deeply linked to the past.

To this concern, the "mining temporalities" I talk about are prolonged and visible traces inscribed on contaminated bodies and desolated landscapes.