Socio-environmental disaster and popular health surveillance: oil spill in fishing territories in Bahia

Socio-environmental disasters occur cyclically in colonial contexts of neoliberal capitalism. People who work in artisanal fishing are directly affected and live with changes in their ways of life and work on a daily basis. In this study we seek to understand the main socio-environmental problems, and community actions, caused by the oil spill in Brazil in 2019, based on the version of artisanal fishermen from Bahia. This is a descriptive, analytical study with a qualitative approach, supported by a collaborative and non-extractive perspective. The results pointed to the following categories of analysis: i) socio-environmental problems and ii) community health and environmental actions: popular surveillance in the territories. It is noted that the arrival of oil in fishing communities caused racialized bodies and territorial bodies to become ill, intensifying fear, hunger, despair and racist practices. The daily life of losses was transformed into absences. However, community initiatives strengthened what can be considered decolonial attitudes of popular vigilance over health and the environment when facing the effects of the disaster, even in the face of government helplessness.

Key words:
Petroleum pollution; Work; Environmental health surveillance; Sociology; Medical