Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg Branch

Second International Conference
"Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations"
July 4-7, 2002, Saint Petersburg, Russia

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

The Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg Branch) in cooperation with the Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Cultural Anthropology of the Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow) is organizing in July 4-7, 2002 in St. Petersburg the Second International Conference "Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations".

The First Conference held in Moscow 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. Billed as a discussion of 'the general trends and mechanisms of socio-cultural evolution and the processes of socio-political evolution in their regional and temporary variation', it turned into a series of debates about the relationship between anthropology and history of the longue durée, 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 create an international consortium which could ensure the regularity of further conferences. Now we intend to hold the “Hierarchy and Power” Conference biannually. Furthermore, it was decided to broaden its disciplinary scope by inviting to participate in the Second Conference not only anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, but also political scientists, sociologists, jurists, and specialists in other related fields. Much of Western social science has gone up a postmodern cul-de-sac, interested only in its own concepts rather than in trying to understand the external world. Those Western social scientists who profess to combine history with ethnography often only mean by this very recent history, especially colonial history. The proposed conference seeks to explore patterns of human history in the widest possible sense and the various theoretical models.

The participants of the First Conference came to the conclusion that in contemporary social sciences we observe a rather effective and sophisticated system of data collection and their initial analysis (on the level of individual cultures and civilizations). In the meantime, we seem to lack a similarly effective and sophisticated system of the synthesis of the obtained results. It was through understanding this problem that the First Conference participants came to an idea to make the “Hierarchy and Power” Conferences regular, aiming at the filling of the above mentioned gap, at the creating of a world-wide network of scholars concerned with the solving of the above discussed problem.

The immediate objective of the Second 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 evolution;
• cultural and socio-biological foundations and factors of dominance in human societies;
• socio-political evolution of the Orient: models and tendencies;
• evolutionary position of the state among the forms of socio-political organization;
• democratic and non-democratic forms of socio-political organization at different levels of cultural complexity;
• political center and regions: interrelations within the frameworks of different models of socio-political organization;
• schools and trends in the study of the “hierarchy and power” problematique.

• “Civil Society: National Models of Political Culture Formation”
  (Convenors: Dr. Anatoly D. Savateev, Prof. Igor V. Sledzevsky /Russia
  e-mail: igor.sledzevskiy@inafr.ru;
  Prof. Stephen L. Schechter /USA/e-mail: schecs@sage.edu );
• “The Community and above It: Communal and Supracommunal Institutions in Different Civilizational Contexts”
  (Convenors: Dr. Dmitry M. Bondarenko /Russia/ - e-mail: dbondar@hotmail.com;
  Prof. Andrey V. Korotayev /Russia/ - e-mail: korotayev@yahoo.com );
• “Law, Power and Corporativism in the Ancient and Mediaeval World: Secular and Sacral Interrelations”
  (Convenor: Dr. N.A. Selounskaya /Russia/ - e-mail: spesbona@mtu-net.ru );
• “Hierarchy and Power According to Archaeological Materials”
  (Convenors: Dr. N.A. Gavriliouk /Ukraine/, - e-mail: tim@ittfnan.ua ;
  Dr. Nikolay N. Kradin, e-mail: kradin@mail.primorye.ru );
• “Gens de la terre, gens du pouvoir, rois divins et chamanes”
  (Convenor: Prof. Gerald Gaillard /France/ - e-mail: gerald.gaillard@univ-lille1.fr)
  The working language of this panel is French;
• “The Scholarly Legacy of Ernest Gellner”
  (Convenor: Dr. Declan Quigley /UK/ - e-mail: dq2@st-andrews.ac.uk)

The working languages of the Conference are Russian, English, and French.

As soon as we receive your abstract, we will send you the list of documents necessary for us to support your visa application process in the Russian Consulate or Embassy in your country.

The registration fee ($100 which includes the culture program, Conference book of abstracts, reception, coffee-breaks, &c.) payment, is to be paid on the spot. Accommodation is about $ 30 per night (single room in a three stars hotel). Estimated meal and other daily expenses are c. $15.

The correspondence should be sent for Dr. Serguei A. Frantsouzoff to the following address:
Institute of Oriental Studies (St. Petersburg Branch)
18, Dvortsovaya nab.
191186 St. Petersburg, Russia
tel.: +7-812-315-84-90
fax: +7-812-312 14 65
e-mail: invost@mail.convey.ru

RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CENTER FOR CIVILIZATIONAL AND REGIONAL STUDIES
30/1 Spiridonovka st., 103001 Moscow, RUSSIA
Tel. + (7 095) 291 41 19; Fax: + (7 095) 202 07 86
E-mail: dmitri.bondarenko@inafr.ru

INSTITUTE OF ORIENTAL STUDIES, ST. PETERSBURG BRANCH 18 Dvortsovaya embankment, 191186 St. Petersburg, RUSSIA Tel.: + (7 812) 315 84 90; Fax: + (7 812) 312 14 65 E-mail: invost@mail.convey.ru