The multiple meanings and uses of South-South relations in extraction: The Brazilian mining company Vale in Mozambique

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Hönke, Jana ; Cezne, Eric:
The multiple meanings and uses of South-South relations in extraction: The Brazilian mining company Vale in Mozambique.
In: World Development. Bd. 151 (Januar 2022) . - No. 105756.
ISSN 0305-750X
DOI der Verlagsversion: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105756

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Abstract

South-South relations have raised hopes of a new development geography – one based on solidarity andmore horizontal partnerships among countries in the Global South. In recent years, however, many ofthese aspirations have proven far-fetched. In the case of Brazil, the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro may evensuggest that the South–South hype is now over and done. However, empirical accounts of the engage-ment of Southern, emerging market-based multinationals across the Global South, such as that ofBrazil’s mining corporation Vale in Mozambique, remain scarce. One missing perspective in definingSouth-South relations is the agency of other actors beyond emerging powers’ governments. This articletherefore goes beyond the pre-eminence of the Brazilian state. Instead, it analyses how South–South rela-tions have been signified and used by two critical actors in the context of Vale’s extractive operations inMozambique: first, the professionals involved in corporate responsibility projects and second, theMozambican power elites. There is a range of analyses of South–South ties, the imaginaries and hopesassociated with them, and their practical possibilities which change according to the expectations,demands, and interests of different actors. We observe that Brazilian professionals in particular have builton specific cultural framings and imaginaries associated with South–South relations to claim a distinctvision and practice of corporate responsibility. Taking note of the prominent role played byMozambique’s ruling party Frelimo, we further demonstrate how Mozambican power elites have har-nessed, through gatekeeping practices, the country’s commodity-spurred architecture of South–Southrelations to reaffirm political power and amplify individual economic interests. In light of Vale’s currentwithdrawal from Mozambique, we posit that our analysis provides a timely opportunity to reflect on themultiple makings, and implications of South-South engagement, the controversies linked to the role ofBrazilian capital in Africa, and Mozambique’s development through extraction.