Call for Papers: "Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations", Moscow, 06.04

RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES CENTER FOR CIVILIZATIONAL AND REGIONAL STUDIES INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN STUDIES

30/1 Spiridonovka St., 123001 Moscow, RUSSIA Tel.: + (7 095) 291 4119; Fax: + (7 095) 202 0786 E-mail: civ-reg@inafr.ru

THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

"HIERARCHY AND POWER IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATIONS" June 18-21 2004, Moscow, Russia

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PANEL PROPOSALS

Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies in cooperation with the Institute for African Studies (both under the Russian Academy of Sciences) is organizing in Moscow in June 18-21 2004 the Third International Conference "HIERARCHY AND POWER IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATIONS".

The First Conference held in Moscow by the Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies in co-operation with the Russian State University for the Humanities in June 2000, brought together over 150 scholars. While the majority of participants were from Russia, others came from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, UK, Ukraine, and the USA. The work of the Conference was organized along 8 panels. Billed as a discussion of 'the general trends and mechanisms of sociocultural evolution and the processes of sociopolitical evolution in their regional and temporary variation', it turned into a series of debates about the relationship between anthropology and history of the longue duree, with contributions from (and implications for) those working in political science, sociology, cultural studies, and related disciplines. The success of the First Conference suggested to its participants an idea to ensure the biannual regularity of further conferences. Furthermore, it was decided to broaden its disciplinary diapason by inviting to participate in the Second Conference not only anthropologists, archaeologists, historians, and sociobiologists, but also political scientists, sociologists, jurists, geographers, and specialists in other related fields aiming at the creating of a world-wide network of scholars concerned with all the possible aspects of the Conference's general problematique.

The Second Conference took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia in July 2002. The Conference was held jointly by the Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies and the Institute of Oriental Studies (St. Petersburg Branch). This time the Conference brought together 180 scholars. 93 of them represented research centers and universities of 14 Russian cities while 87 participants came from 30 countries of all the inhabited continents of the Earth: Australia, Austria, Belorus, Canada, China (including Taiwan), Colombia, Czech Republic, France, French Polynesia, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Latvia, Malaysia, Mali, Netherlands, Nigeria, Slovenia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA. The work of the Conference was organized along 18 panels. The Conference was supported financially by the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (London) and the 'Uchitel' Publishing House (Volgograd). For more information about the first two Conferences (Announcements, Programs, electronic versions of the Books of Abstracts and journal reviews) please visit the Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies' Internet site at the address http://civreg.ru. At this site one may also get acquainted with the history and activities of the Center. The address of the Institute for African Studies' Internet site is http://inafr.ru.

The immediate objective of the Third Conference is to discuss the following issues:
- civilizational and evolutionary models of socio-political development; - interaction of the socio-political and cultural-mental groups of factors in the processes of social transformations; - cultural and socio-biological foundations and factors of dominance in human societies; - power strategies vs. stages of political evolution; - hierarchy and heterarchy in the sociopolitical history of humankind; - ideology and legitimation of power in different civilizational contexts; - violence and non-violence in the history of political institutions formation, development and decline; - the role of economy in sociopolitical processes; - access to information as a condition and its use as a means of political manipulation and mobilization; - the 'classical' (band, tribe, chiefdom, state) and 'alternative' forms of sociopolitical organization; - 'traditional' and recent schools and trends in the study of the 'hierarchy and power' problematique.

Suggestions for discussion of any other aspects of the general problematique of the Conference reflected in its title, are also welcomed.

The working languages of the Conference are Russian and English.

The Organizing Committee will be glad to consider any panel proposals (within 500 words in any of the Conference working languages) which will be received by February 1, 2003. The information to be submitted alongside with the proposal, includes the panel convenor's full name, title, institutional affiliation, full mail and e-mail addresses, and fax #, as well names, institutional affiliations, and e-mail addresses of not less than two other possible participants of the panel, at least one of which should represent a country other than that of the convenor.

The Organizing Committee will inform the applicants about the results of their panel proposals' consideration by February 15, 2003. Besides that, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to establish one or two free communication panels (it is also suggested that each of the panels will eventually include about a dozen papergivers, and the list of all the participants is to become known in the beginning of the year 2004 due to the activities of both the Organizing Committee and panel convenors). None of the proposals may be accepted or rejected on the basis of its submitter's previous academic credentials, ethnic or national origin, sex, or otherwise, but only on the basis of the proposal's relevance to and importance for, the Conference's general problematique. Proposals emphasizing theoretical and cross-regional approaches to the 'hierarchy and power' problematique are strongly encouraged. In the case the proposal is accepted, the Organizing Committee will send you the list of documents necessary to support your and your panel participants' visa application process at the Russian Consulate or Embassy in the respective countries.

The Conference participant's registration fee is $ 100 (or the corresponding sum in euros or Russian rubles) which includes the visa application support at the Russian Foreign Ministry. Please note that according to the Russian visa regulations, the host organisation has to pay fees to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for every foreign participant and even a bigger sum for accompanying persons. However, all the foreigners wishing to enter the Russian Federation must not only apply for visas at the Russian Consulates in respective countries but also pay another fee on their own for the visa's' granting. culture program,

Conference Book of Abstracts, reception, coffee-breaks, is to be paid on the spot upon arrival. The fee for an accompanying person is $ 30 (or again, the corresponding sum in euros or Russian rubles) includes the visa application support at the Russian Foreign Ministry and participation in culture program. Accommodation at the hotel of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Downtown Moscow is about $ 45 per night. It is also possible to make an independent reservation in this hotel or in one of many other Moscow hotels of different class through Internet at sites:

http://moscow-hotels.net and http://all-hotels.ru. Estimated meal and other daily expenses are c. $ 15 per person. However, please note that the figures above may be subjected to some changes due to processes in transnational and national economy which are obviously out of the Organizing Committee's control. If such changes happen, the Organizing Committee will try its best to inform the Conference participants as soon as possible.

All the correspondence should be sent for Prof. Dmitri M. Bondarenko, Dr. Igor L. Alexeev, and Mr. Oleg I. Kavykin preferably by e-mail (conf2004@hotmail.com), or either by fax (+ 7 095 202 0786), or by ordinary mail (Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 30/1 Spiridonovka St., 123001 Moscow, Russia). The telephone number is: + 7 095 291 4119.