The claim Masha Gessen makes in The Dying Russians – that Russia is experiencing a depopulation crisis due to the people’s loss of hope – is questionable at best, and nearly impossible to believe at worst. While I’m not fundamentally opposed to the notion that something like a loss of hope can lead to a less healthy population with a consequently higher mortality rate, Gessen doesn’t really manage to convince me that this is what has been happening in Russia.

Gessen starts off on the right foot by citing anthropological works like Michelle Parson’s Dying Unneeded and describing her research. Regrettably, she soon seemingly tries to support her claim by ruling out other potential causes (drinking, smoking, etc. ) of the mortality crisis based on statistical data. I see this as an improper method that has harmed the credibility of her paper. Statistical data alone is arguably insufficient evidence to rule out a cause of Russia’s high mortality Also, any kind of “ruling out” methodology for research requires a much more expansive scope than what Gessen allows. Even if we ignore the faults in her methodology, such a claim will always seem doubtful to many.

If we accept Gessen’s conclusion as correct, then the mortality crisis starts to sound a lot like the protests talked about in texts like Lisa Wedeen’s Acting ‘As If’: Symbolic Politics and Social Control in Syria and James C. Scott’s Normal Exploitation, Normal Resistance. In this case, the Russian population protests a government that gives them nothing with shocking fertility and mortality rates. A notable difference between these protests and those described in the aforementioned texts, however, is that these protests seem to be subconscious – it’s not like Russians are knowingly choosing to get heart attacks. This was a major point of interest in the paper for me, as it got me thinking about how (or if) subconscious protest even exists.

Depopulation won’t please the government, but how can an action be considered rebellious if it is not even executed consciously? My opinion is that it can’t be – protest requires a mindful decision to defy your oppressor in some way or form. In fact, I think that this decision is the greatest qualifier for protest. Therefore, I can’t interpret the depopulation crisis as some kind of rebellious action or display against the Russian government.