Manipulations of Public Consciousness in the Environmental Conflict on Kushtau

ABSTRACT

The article describes the results of research on the civic protest in the Republic of Bashkortostan against the destruction of the limestone mountain top [shihan] at Kushtau, a world geological heritage site. The subject of the research is the manipulations of public consciousness during the environmental conflict and how they were overcome. The research is based on the theory of manipulation of public consciousness, which explains the achievement of a certain level of consent in society, as well as passive behavior in a situation of social conflict, through the use of manipulative methods in information policy. Diverse channels for the dissemination of information on the topic of Kushtau are analyzed by the author, identifying the application of manipulative methods. Materials in the mass information media and other information sources were analyzed to determine to what extent the images of the situation offered by various actors corresponded to the real state of affairs. The methods of the manipulations are systematized. Analysis includes data from in-depth interviews, which allowed determination of the level of awareness of persons who had originally come from Bashkortostan and were currently residing in other Russian regions about the problem of the industrial development of the Kushtau shihan. The civic movement in defense of Kushtau is examined to show how it overcame manipulative influences, which led to a decision by the authorities on saving the mountain and providing it with state protection.

KEYWORDS:

• manipulations of public opinion
• mass consciousness
• information distribution channels
• mass information media
• environmental movement
• civil society
• network participation

Notes

^a. The Kushtau mountain shihan, also called Kushtau Hill, is one of four striking and distinct limestone monoliths that stand approximately 200–250 meters above an otherwise flat river plain in Bashkortostan. Their names are Toratau [Tratau], Yuraktau [Iuraktau], and Kushtau, plus a fourth, Sha[k]tau, earlier destroyed by Bashkirsk Soda Company mining. Toratau and Yuraktau had natural preservation status before the fight over Kushtau began. All four have been considered sacred traditional lands, with centuries-old ceremonial meaning, by some Bashkirs.

^b. The author’s own insider activism, while downplayed here for the sake of balanced analysis, makes this account all the more valuable for her access and insights.

^c. For the popular music of this gender-bending star, whose birth name is Radik Yul’iakshin [Yulyakshin], see http://elvin-grey.ru/.

^d. The use of the derogatory term “skin head” in Russia has come to be associated with extremist Russian nationalist groups. In this case, the mostly Bashkir (although mixed ethnic and hardly extremist) protesters were far from Russian nationalists.