Problematizing the wickedness of the Fundão dam rupture: Are cross-sector partnerships enough to bring about the Doce river basin recovery process?

Abstract

This paper aims to draw attention to the intricacies of hybrid network governance in a challenging institutional landscape. The empirical focus is a case study of the recovery process from the Fundão dam rupture, Brazil’s most significant environmental disaster, and the largest in the world involving tailings dams. To drill into the barriers to cross-sector partnerships, we adopted a multi-methods approach, including interviews, grey materials and documents, participant observation and social network analysis. We identified interrelated barriers and grouped them into institutional, power and knowledge barriers, which act through a positive feedback loop leading to a structural arrangement that is inadequate for collaboration in disaster management. As a result, the Doce river basin’s recovery process has taken the form of a wicked industrial disaster, enabling a “chain reaction” of increasing wickedness. We thereby advance cross-sector partnership research by drawing attention to the underlying causes of failure and offer guidance to public and private managers on possible strategies to address the barriers to cross-sector partnerships.