enforced helplessness and conspiracy theories

During the week that sees the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, BBC journalists Tim Whewell and Nick Sturdee tell the story of how the war has been presented to the Russian people: BBC Radio 4 - Analysis, From Brother to Other

They interview the Russian social anthropologist Alexandra (Sasha) Arkhipova - and she talked about how her fellow Russians are subjected to 'enforced helplessness' - which is basically a feeling of not being able to control things: Learned helplessness - Wikipedia

Most Russians feel helpless - and only very few are showing public opposition - as shown in research Sasha carried out last September:

Participation in street actions that would “not be even reported in any news coverage,” yet were extremely risky, only aggravated the feeling of total helplessness among my interviewees. Thus, while at the beginning of the war some of them thought seriously about organizing protest resistance, after participation in several protest actions, they generally dropped these intentions... RAD291.pdf

Here she's being interviewed by the independent Russian media outlet Eyewitness (formerly TV2):

Tell us about yourself
- My name is Sasha Arkhipova, I am a social anthropologist. Social anthropologists are people who study how other people behave, how other people think. To put it very briefly, social anthropology is the science of understanding understanding, of how other people understand.
The war is more than six months old. What has changed in the mass consciousness of Russians?

- Well, first of all, the image of the enemy is changing. That is, the war began when we were told that there were some Nazis in Ukraine, who were making all kinds of attempts on our glorious past and on our present, crucifying boys. In addition, we were told that the Americans had built some laboratories on the borders of Ukraine and Russia that were poisoning us and releasing contaminated pigeons. That is, the enemy was not the Ukrainians, the enemy was the Americans with geopolitical interests and the Nazis, zombified by Americans.

Alexandra Arkhipova: "This is a study of the ogre's teeth, with which he eats us.

Here's another fascinating interview with her on National Public Radio: A "Semiotic War": Decoding Russian Dissidence : Rough Translation : NPR

And here she is on Deutsche Welle: Russians denounce opponents of Ukraine war – DW – 07/07/2022

Another layer of thinking is the conspiracy theory:

During the Cold War, the Soviets often used conspiracy theories to justify fighting the West. Now the Putin regime is doing the same thing with such intensify that it is entirely appropriate to say that “conspiracy thinking is already its new ideology,” Aleksandra Arkhipova says. The folklorist who writes the (Not)Entertaining Anthropology telegram channel (t.me/s/anthro_fun) says Russian leaders with roots in the Soviet past find the use of conspiracy theories effective when no one believes the official ideology as was true then or when there is no obvious ideology as is the case now (svoboda.org/a/aleksandra-arhipova-konspirologiya-eto-uzhe-novaya-ideologiya-/32138044.html).

As Arkhipova notes, “Putin constantly says that we are not fighting with Ukraine. Ukrainians are a fraternal people. In fact, we are fighting with the West, with the Anglo-Saxons” who want to destroy us in a variety of ways. The Kremlin leader most likely believes exactly that, but at the very least, he appreciates the value to himself of promoting conspiracy thinking.

Moscow Trapped By Conspiracy Theories To Justify Russia’s Fight Against The West – OpEd – Eurasia Review

There are ways to protest: through references to music: How 'Swan Lake' became a symbol of protest in Russia - ABC News

And through flowers: ‘I Couldn’t Stay Silent’: Anti-War ‘Flower Protests’ Spread to 60 Cities Across Russia - The Moscow Times

Sasha is also on German language media: Ukraine-Krieg: Russen fürchten weitere Mobilmachung - ZDFheute

To finish, here are a couple of pieces looking at "enforced helplessness and conspiracy theories":

This chapter investigates another possible cause of conspiracy theory belief: learned helplessness. Learned helplessness arises when individuals perceive themselves as unable to avoid negative situations in their lives or to affect desired change... over time, conspiratorial thinking also tends to increase learned helplessness. Conspiracy Stress or Relief? Learned Helplessness and Conspiratorial Thinking | The Politics of Truth in Polarized America | Oxford Academic

Debunked: “learned helplessness,” a theory developed from a cruel animal experiment: Helplessness isn't learned — it's an instinctual response that can be overcome. How neuroscience debunked "learned helplessness" theory - Big Think

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