FINAL 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 is organizing on 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, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, the 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 temporal 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 accounts about the First Conference are published in the journals Vostok /Oriens/ (2000, no. 5, p. 163) and Anthropology Today (vol. 16, 2000, no. 6, pp. 23-24).

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 has been 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 ca The immediate objective of the Second Conference is to discuss the following issues:

• civilizational and evolutionary models of socio-political development;
• cultural and socio-biological foundations and factors of dominance in human societies;
• interaction of the socio-political and cultural-mental groups of factors in the processes of social evolution;
• representation of the diversity of systems of socio-political institutions in fine arts and fiction;
• linguistic data and reconstruction of the evolution of socio-political institutions;
• semiotic aspects of hierarchy and power systems;
• 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.

• “Conceptualizing Hierarchy in the ‘Prehistory’ and History of Anthropology” (Convenor: Dr Robert Launay /USA/ - e-mail: rgl201@northwestern.edu);
• “Hierarchy and Power in Ancient Eurasian Societies according to Data of Archaeological Researches” (Convenors: Prof. Nadejda A. Gavriliouk /Ukraine/
• e-mail: tim@ittfnan.ua, Prof. Nikolay N. Kradine /Russia/ - 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 Community and above It: Communal and Supracommunal Institutions in Different Civilizational Contexts” (Convenors: Dr Dmitri 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);
• “Caste Discrimination: Perspectives and Outcome: Our Duty” (Convenor: Dr Pratip Kumar Majumdar /India/ - e-mail: rabutuma@rediffmail.com; arpan_sen19@yahoo.com); - “Problem of the State and Its Criteria” (Convenor: Dr Dmitry N. Lielukhine /Russia/ - e-mail: lel@lel.msk.ru);
• “Civilizational Significance of Empires in the History of Hierarchical Societies of West and East” (Convenors: Prof. Viktor Dm. Komarov /Russia/ - e-mail: anviko@mail.ru; Prof. Janos Bak /Hungary/ - e-mail: bakjan@ceu.hu, Prof. Patrick Geary /USA/ - e-mail: geary@ucla.edu);
• “Civil Society: National Models of Political Culture Formation” (Convenors: Dr Anatoly D. Savateev /Russia/, Prof. Igor V. Sledzevsky /Russia/ - e-mail: igor.sledzevskiy@inafr.ru; Prof. Stephen L. Schechter /USA/ - e-mail: schecs@sage.edu);
• “Theories of Power; Power of Theories: Anthropological Approaches (Convenor: Prof. Steve Reyna - e-mail: reyna@eth.mpg.de);
• “Ideology as Priority in Civilizational Process” (Convenor: Mr Mikhail N. Shchelkonogov /Russia/ - e-mail: sw@sunway-centre.com);
• “Democratic Control of Technology: The Historical Evolution of Democratic Theory and Technocracy” (Convenor: Prof. Gary Bryner /USA/ - e-mail: gary.bryner@colorado.edu);
• “Testing a Model of Civilizational Analysis: ‘Globalization’ and Civilizational Change” (Convenor: Mr John Cerullo /USA/ - e-mail: jcerullo@cisunix.unh.edu);
• “Islamic World: Concepts of Power and Models of Socio-Political Evolution” (Convenors: Dr Rafik M. Mukhametchine /Russia/ - e-mail: rafikm@mail.ru; Dr Igor L. Alexeev /Russia/ - e-mail: igor.alexeev@inafr.ru; Prof. Andrey V. Korotayev /Russia/ - e-mail: korotayev@yahoo.com);
• "Locality, Hierarchy and Power in Southeast Asia” (Convenor: Dr. Gerald Sullivan /USA/ - e-mail: masdjeri@gwu.edu);
• "Hierarchy and Power in Pre-European Polynesia" (Convenor: Prof. Serge Dunis /French Polynesia/ – e-mail: mnsdunis@mail.pf);
• “The Rise and Fall of State-Systems in the Interlacustrine Region of East Africa: The Struggle for Power” (Convenor: Prof. Godfrey N. Uzoigwe /USA/ - e-mail: gnu@ra.msstate.edu);
• “The Scholarly Legacy of Ernest Gellner” (Convenor: Dr Declan Quigley /UK/ - e-mail: dq2@st-andrews.ac.uk; Dr Peter Skalnik /Czech Republic/ - e-mail: petr.skalnik@ff.cuni.cz).
  The deadline for paper submission (an abstract within 300 words in English or French) is December 1, 2001. If you have already submitted your paper

  abstract or have an intention to do so, please let us know at what panel you would like to deliver it. You are also requested to indicate your full name, title, institutional affiliation, full mail and e-mail addresses, and fax number.

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

  The following documents and data are necessary for us to support your visa application process at the Russian Consulate or Embassy in your country:

  1. the faxed copy of your passport (including the passport number and the date of its expiry);
  2. the full address of your institution (including phone and fax numbers);
  3. your position;
  4. the supposed duration of your stay in Russia;
  5. the location (city) of the Russian Consulate or Consulate Division of the Embassy in your country at which you are going to apply.
  6. If you are not a citizen of the country in which you intend to apply for the Russian visa, you must also fax us a copy of a document certifying your legal right to reside in that country.

     The registration fee ($100 or its equivalent in euros, but not less than 100 euros which covers the expenses for the culture program, Conference book of abstracts, reception, coffee-breaks, &c.) 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.

     All the correspondence should be sent to Dr Serguei A. Frantsouzoff to Institute of Oriental Studies at the address below. Please also send a copy of your paper abstract (but not the visa application materials) to Prof Dmitri M. Bondarenko, Head of the Department of Civilizational and Anthropological Studies, to address below.