[Discussion] CONF.: Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
"HIERARCHY AND POWER IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATIONS"
June 13-16 2006, Moscow, Russia

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS

Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies in cooperation with the 
Institute
for African Studies (both under the Russian Academy of Sciences) and the 
Russian
State University for the Humanities is organizing in Moscow on June 
13-16, 2006
the Fourth International Conference "HIERARCHY AND POWER IN THE HISTORY OF
CIVILIZATIONS."

All the Conference events except culture program will take place on the 
Russian
State University for the Humanities main campus.

The working languages of the Conference are Russian and English.

The Organizing Committee has considered all the panel proposals received 
by it.
The descriptions of the accepted proposals please find below. The 
deadline for
paper proposals (in the form of abstracts within 300 words in English) is
November 1, 2005. Paper proposals should be sent not to the Organ-izing
Committee but directly to the respective panel convenor(s) who is (are) to
inform the applicant about his (her) application's fortune by December 
1, 2005.
The information to be submitted alongside with the paper abstract 
includes full
name, title, institutional affiliation, full mail and e-mail addresses, 
and fax
#.

However, in the case you feel your paper does not fit any particular 
panel but
corresponds to the Conference's general problematique, you may submit your
proposal to the Organizing Committee by the same date (November 1, 2005) 
and it
will be considered for scheduling for the Free Communication Panel. 
Besides, if
the Organizing Committee finds it possible to unite an appropriate number of
propos-als submitted for the Free Communication Panel into a thematic 
panel, it
may establish such a panel and propose one of its prospective 
participants to
become the convenor. 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 problematics.

All the general inquiries and proposals for the Free Communication Panel 
should
be sent to the Organizing Committee, for the attention of Ms. Anastasia
Banschikova, Conference Secretary preferably by e-mail 
(civ-reg@inafr.ru), 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.

In the case the proposal is accepted, the Organizing Committee will send 
you the
list of documents necessary to support your and your panel participant's 
visa
application process at the Russian Consulate or Embassy in the respective
countries in the beginning of the year 2006.

The Conference participant's registration fee is 100 euros (or the
equivalent sum in US dollars or Russian rubles) which includes the visa
application support at the Russian Foreign Ministry's 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 50 euros (or the
equivalent sum in US dollars or Russian rubles) includes the visa 
application
support at the Russian Foreign Ministry, participation in culture 
program and
reception.

Accommodation at the hotel of the Russian Academy of Sciences or at the 
hotel of
the Russian State University for the Humanities, both in Downtown Moscow,
currently is about 45 euros per night. It is also possible to make an
independent reservation in one of many other Moscow hotels of different 
class
through Internet at sites: http://www.moscow-hotels-russia.com/rus/,
http://www.hotelmos.ru/index_e.htm, http://www.hotelsrussia.com,
http://www.selectrussia.com/ and http://all-hotels.ru. Estimated meal 
and other
daily expenses are c. 15 euros 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.

PANELS ACCEPTED FOR THE CONFERENCE (In the alphabetical order of titles):

Europe as Political and Cultural Entity: Dialogue of Civilizations or
Civilization of Dialogue?
Convenors: Dr. Ekaterina B. Demintseva (Department of Cultural Anthropology,
Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences,
30/1 Spiridonovka st., 123001 Moscow, Russia; Tel.: + 7 095 291 4119; 
Fax: + 7
095 202 07 86; E-mail: katia-d@yandex.ru); Timour Atnachev (European 
University
Institute, Florence, Italy; E-mail: timour.atnachev@iue.it)

The current enlargement of the European Union makes acute even more than 
before
the question of where do the borders of Europe lie? The question has two
dimensions: political and cultural. Dealing with both or any of the aspects
presupposes choosing one of the two lines of reasoning: Europe may be 
considered
either as a field of interaction of a number of civilizations or as one 
though
internally highly diversified civilization. Finally, do the frontiers of 
Europe
as a political and cultural entity co-insides with the continent's 
geographical
borders? Anthropology, History, Political and Social sciences offer 
different
perspectives to answer these questions, and we invite specialists in 
these (and
other) disciplines to their discussion. Paper proposals may tackle such 
problems
as social, political, and cultural exchanges in Europe in past and present,
formation of the European political system and institution and national
political cultures, integration of infra-European and non-European 
immigrants
into the European countries' societies and cultures, the possibility of 
national
and ethnic cultures' dissolution in the process of European integration, 
as well
as any other aspects relevant to the panel's general problematics.


Hierarchical Structures and Local Network Communities in the Muslim World
Convenors: Galina A. Khizriyeva (School of History, Political Science 
and Law,
Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow; E-mail:
khizriyeva@yahoo.com); Dr. Igor L. Alexeev (School of History, Political 
Science
and Law, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow; E-mail:
ialexeev@mail.ru)

The modern state is based оn two key principles. They are internal
hierarchy and external autonomy. But internal hierarchy of many polities
traditionally includes internal network communities that can compete with
internal hierarchical systems of the state, influence and even corrode 
it. The
process depends on the character of interrelations between the two
organizational principles – political hierarchy and network in which
hierarchy is loose and situational. As a result, a state can undergo the 
process
of its weakening and become an arena for a political crisis and conflicts.
Within the framework of the panel we would like to discuss the problematic
mentioned above with respect to different types of contemporary Muslim 
states,
societies and communities. However, cases from any part of the world and 
of any
historical period relevant to the problem of state emergency out of network
communities or vice versa are welcome.


Hierarchy and Power before and after Revolutions
Convenor: Dr. Bahram Navazeni (P.O. Box 288, Department of Political 
Science,
Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin 34149-16818, Iran; 
Tel/Fax: 98
281 367 9092; Fax: 98 281 378 0035; E-mail: navazenib@ikiu.ac.ir)

The history of mankind has witnessed various types of state systems in 
which the
main subject has always been the distribution of power. In each type, 
ancient or
modern, theocratic or democratic, despotic or pluralistic, different 
classes and
groups have played different roles either in supporting or opposing the 
power
which might have some relation to a particular context of cultural, 
religious,
social and economic power. Classes such as nobles, clergies, bourgeoisie,
proletariats and peasants, and groups such as patriots, zealots, and
nationalists may insist on their will and not ease until the revolution 
and the
collapse of the whole system. But even when revolutionaries come to 
power, they
find the distribution of power among themselves and with the opposition 
as the
first task, so the game still continues. Covering a large area of the 
political
science field, this panel encourages political scientists, sociologists,
historians and all the others interested in the nature of the old or modern
state, and the power it wields to use historical and contemporary 
material to
illustrate the theoretical analysis and different and changing will and 
need of
the ruling vs. revolutionary groups and classes. Papers on the Russian, 
Persian,
British, American, Turk, Arab, Indian, Chinese, African and other 
revolutions in
the past and present will surely be appreciated in this panel. I invite the
interested participants to discuss the causes of revolts and revolutions 
and to
find a way to ease tensions in the civilization as a whole.


Human Rights in the History of Civilizations
Convenor: Dr. Pattamaporn Busapathumrong (Department of Humanities and 
Social
Sciences, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Asian University, 89 Moo 12 Highway 331,
Banglamung, Chon Buri 20260, Thailand; Tel.: +66 1 8153054; Fax: +66 38 
754 447;
E-mails: pattama@asianust.ac.th; pattama15@yahoo.com)

The panel on human rights in history and civilization focuses on 
exploring how
the economic, political and socio-cultural factors have influenced the
conception, definitions and the emergence of human rights in history and
civilization. This involves social processes in historical dimension 
concerning
human rights in the areas of human rights violation and the development 
of human
rights instrument (written and unwritten codes) such as traumas among 
those who
experience human rights violation, grassroot movements, peace movements, 
civil
society, legal frameworks and instruments, the role of government,
non-government and international organizations. To what extent that power
strategies vs. stages of political evolution, the ideology and 
legitimation of
power in different civilizational contexts play key role in history and
civilization including violence and non-violence in the history of political
institution, formation, development and decline; hierarchy and 
heterarchy in the
sociopolitical history of humankind.


Interpreting Violence: The Confessional, the National, the Generational, 
and the
Personal
Convenor: Dr. Charles Rheaume (Directorate of History and Heritage, National
Defense Headquarters, 2429, Holly Lane, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0K2; 
Fax: +1
613 990 85 79, E-mails: rheaume.cc@forces.gc.ca; crheau@sympatico.ca)

The theme and title of the panel are shaped the way which permits to welcome
papers on a great variety of particular topics related to any country and
historical period. Currently, the confirmed or prospective participants 
intend
to discuss such problems as the attitude towards the use of force in the 
Judaic
tradition, essentially that such use is not compatible with that faith; 
Canada's
self-image as a non-violent nation through the historical example of 
Canada's
decision not to develop a nuclear bomb of its own after the Second World 
War,
and its eagerness in engaging in peacekeeping missions across the world 
as early
as the late 1940s; the interpretation of violence in Stalinist Russia; the
phenomenon of violence as seen through today's Russian youth; and the inner
process by which Danish physicist Niels Bohr was led from taking part in
building up the ultimate means of violence that nuclear weapons are to
advocating their international control.


Modern Mass Media and the Public Sphere: New Challenges and 
Opportunities for
Democracy
Convenor: Dr. Veronica V. Usacheva (Department of Cultural Anthropology, 
Center
for Civilizational and Regional Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 30/1
Spiridonovka st., 123001 Moscow, Russia; Tel.: + 7 095 291 4119; Fax: + 
7 095
202 07 86; E-mails: veronius@mail, veronius@rambler.ru)

Globalization has created new challenges in information space. New models of
communication have emerged. Their influence overcomes states’ 
borders and,
what is even more serious, they have a great potential and capabilities for
destroying the basis and cultural values of a society. In the classical
interpretation by Jürgen Habermas the “public sphere” is the 
arena
within which a debate occurs. It is the zone where access to information is
sufficient for more probable rational discourse and looking for mutually
acceptable public standards. The public sphere is where ideas, 
information and
knowledge are shared, where ideas generated and opinions are constructed.
Although real and experienced, the public sphere cannot be located in a
particular place or identified as an object. It is not a physical spot where
discourse has consequences. For Habermas, correctly functioning public 
sphere
restricts state power and gives possibilities through which democracy 
could be
realized. Ideally, the public sphere should be free from limitations, both
private interests and state control. Nowadays the public sphere as a zone of
modern discourse is distorted by unequal access to information, power and
prosperity. What is the role of modern mass media in the public sphere's
formation? What possibilities do they offer citizens to seek, receive, and
impart information? How do mass media provide equal access to them for 
different
social groups and individuals? Is equal access possible in the modern world?
During the 20th century the state became a serious player on the public 
sphere
stage, being sometimes authoritarian or totalitarian monopolist. Information
control can serve as a part and parcel of nation-building. At the same time,
media manipulation can become a weapon of mass deconstruction. What kind of
public sphere can exist in the situation of increasing influence of the 
state
and economic interests on mass media? Where is the solution to overcome the
elitist character of the public sphere? The progress of communications 
gives new
opportunities for people to overcome limitations and deficiencies, even 
social
norms and social control. The many point out that new mass media are
revolutionizing the nature of discourse. The crucial question is: Do people
receive now more information than before? Do we have more zones for public
discourse, than before? Are there any new possibilities for broad and 
unlimited
freedom of expression, including critical to authorities? The panel will 
cover
both theoretical and empirical approaches to the mentioned above 
problems and
encourages papers that deal with the following: public sphere / public
sphericules; modern mass media in maintenance the institutions of civil
societies and democracy; public discourses, their competition and 
hierarchical
relations.


Networked Cultures: Negotiating Cultural Difference in Contested Spaces
Convenor: Prof. Peter Mörtenböck (Department of Visual Cultures, Goldsmiths
College, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom;
E-mail: p.mortenbock@gold.ac.uk)

This panel aims to discuss the dynamics and potentials of newly emerging
socio-political network structures and the ways in which they 
re-conceptualise
socio-political organisation through innovative forms of spatial 
practice. It
looks at contemporary spatial practices characterised by a dislocation and
dispersion of contributors, participants and spectators, by processes of
fragmentation and multiplication, by a shifting of perspectives from 
dominant
centralities to networked peripheries, clandestine economies and virtual 
sites.
In doing so, this panel intends to question the ways in which the local is
reinstalled as a new sphere of activities which can only be understood 
through
its network of relationships with other localities. Albeit an increasingly
fictitious construct, urban space continues to be a central site of 
negotiation
between conflicting cultural histories, narratives and values in Europe and
between Europe and other world regions. Call centres, for instance, 
create the
illusion of speaking to someone geographically close to the location of the
client, they create a sense of "hereness", whereas for economic reasons 
more and
more call centres of the Western world are relocated to Asia. Territorial
boundaries are both being undermined and upheld as is the case in the 
recently
proposed building of Austrian prisons in Rumania or the British border 
controls
on French territory. Both the contested geography and the contested 
imaginary
described in these and in many other instances are indicative of a rapidly
growing fragmentation and attempted re-stabilisation of space formed in 
and by
the projection of dominant cultural narratives. These power moves 
challenge our
traditional understanding of cities as sites of actual exchange: The 
exchange
between communities is not bound to a material site any longer, it rather
develops into a site of migratory co-existence and cross-cultural 
networking.
What is at stake in these newly emerging communities of fleeting 
identifications
and chance encounters is a new way of thinking through the problematics 
of an
illusory "hereness" in relation to an illusory "thereness". A crucial 
question
addressed here is the extent to which we actually participate in these
complexities of socio-political organisation and how we relate to 
concepts and
images produced by culturally specific groups to which we belong or to 
which we
do not belong. As participation can no longer be restricted to 
instruments such
as memberships, polls and questionnaires, we have to look at new modes 
in which
collectivities (contact zones, nodes of intensities and communities) are
developed. How do new forms of communication and representation, in 
particular
virtual-spatial ones, change the social spaces where different cultures 
meet?
How do public fantasies interact with the actual living conditions of 
citizens?
How do constructions of an illusory "hereness" relate to constructions of a
similarly illusory "thereness"? Contributions to this panel will consider
different spaces of contested nature: spaces which exhibit or call for the
potentiality of new forms of cohabitation and cross-cultural 
fertilisation. It
will investigate how such networked cultures reflect and generate new
epistemological models and intends to critically assess their potential for
cultural dialogue.


Power and Identity in Multicultural Societies
Convenor: Prof. Vassili R. Filippov (Department of Ethnoregional 
Studies, Center
for Civilizational and Regional Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 30/1
Spiridonovka St., 123001 Moscow, Russia; Tel.: + 7 095 202 3311; Fax: + 
7 095
202 0786; E-mail: fvr@east.ru)

The panel is to consider the power and ethnicity interactions in political
practice of contemporary multiethnic states and quasi-states. The following
issues are to be discussed: the problem of ethnic groups as subjects of 
the law:
collective rights of substantiated ethnic groups vs. the individual's 
right for
free choice of ethno-cultural identity; political practice of the ethnic
processes optimization in multicultural states; forms of realization of the
individual’s ethno-cultural identity in multicultural states; the 
ways of
ethnicity's depolitization and politics' deethnization in multiethnic 
societies;
paradigmatics of contemporary ethnological science and ideological
substantiation of the ethnocratic regimes' legitimation; ethnic models 
of power
legitimation in political practice of contemporary states and quasi-states.


Power and Ideology in the Northern Maya Lowlands
Convenor: Prof. Justine M. Shaw (College of the Redwoods, Anthropology 
Section,
7351 Tompkins Hill Road, Eureka, CA 95501, USA; Tel.: + 1 707 476 4322; 
Fax: + 1
707 476 4430; E-mail: justine-shaw@redwoods.edu)

The Northern Yucatan, including much of the modern Mexican states of 
Quintana
Roo, Yucatan, and Campeche, has been the location of a series of recent and
ongoing archaeological projects. Some of the primary objectives of these
ventures have been to simply locate and date settlements in the region, 
due to
the paucity of prior research and the pressing need to document sites 
that are
increasingly threatened by modern development. However, sustained 
investigations
are beginning to allow archaeologists to test hypotheses concerning the 
roles of
past ideologies in structuring and legitimizing power, the nature of 
political
organization, and the role of economy in socio-political processes. 
While the
past and present occupants of the Northern Lowlands are commonly 
referred to as
the "Maya", this label belies the cultural diversity within the region, 
as well
as the enormous amount of culture change that has taken place during the
approximately 2,500 years covered by studies in the region. One area in 
which
these changes are most evident is that of ideologies, which have been
continuously manipulated by a series of powers within the region, 
starting from
the first kings through Spanish colonial times to the present. Even where
writing is not present, archaeologists have been able to call upon 
architecture,
art, and the distribution of relatively common artifacts in order to make
inferences about the cosmological programs of particular factions. While
kingship is assumed to be the norm for ancient Maya political 
organization, an
examination of the scale and distribution of settlement within the Northern
Lowlands makes it clear that, if such kings were the leaders of sites, 
they were
not all equal. Settlement pattern shifts through time reveal certain 
centers,
which might be called regional capitals, which were able to attract 
substantial
populations, while others retained little-to-no residents. Examinations 
of the
distribution of artifact types and architectural styles provide insights 
into
the actual areas that such rulers might have controlled, the strategies that
they used to attract and retain followers, and the degree to which their
leadership extended into economic realms.


Status, Society and Accusation: Forms of Accusation and Inquisition from
Antiquity to Renaissance
Convenor: Dr. Nadezhda A. Selonskaia (Center for Comparative Studies of 
Ancient
Civilizations, Institute of World History, Russian Academy of Sciences, 32a
Leninskii pr., apt. 1501, 119334 Moscow, Russia; Fax: + 7 095 938 1912; 
E-mails:
spes@dr.com spesbona@mail.ru)

The panel is to deal with the concepts of culpa, accusation and 
inquisition in a
number of political and social contexts. It intends to analyze the 
variability
of perceptions, representations, and interactions of the secular and sacred
components of these concepts. The goal is also to demonstrate the role 
written
and oral forms and performances of the process of accusations and the 
possible
evidence of historical sources can play in interpretation of the 
phenomena. The
final goal is to indicate the specific features of the concepts of culpa and
accusation not only from the history of law perspective, but also to 
analyze the
phenomena in the context of social hierarchy, with attention given to the
secular and religious conflicts and the interests of society's members. 
Paper
proposals are to be focused first and foremost on the world of Antiquity,
Medieval Latin West and Byzantine Empire, and the Renaissance. However, the
framework of the panel could include not just pagan Antiquity and Christian
European civilization but also a broader historical context of the 
Mediterranean
world.


Structure of Power and Hierarchy in the Chinggis Khan Empire: A 
Cross-Cultural
Perspective
Convenor: Prof. Nikolay N. Kradin (Institute of History, Archaeology and
Ethnography, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 89
Pushkinskaya st., Vladivostok 690950, Russia; Tel.: +7 4232 228 067; Fax: +7
4232 268 211; E-mail: kradin@mail.ru)

The problem of the Mongols' conquests and the place of the Chinggis Khan 
empire
in the world-system history received new sounding in the last decade. 
Activation
of its studying is connected with approximation of the 800th anniversary 
of the
Mongolian empire's declaration in 1206. The fundamental problem to be 
discussed
in the panel is the structure of power and hierarchy in the Chinggis Khan
empire. The other points for discussion are: Why did the Mongols rise from a
small, little-known people to a powerful empire which became able to 
destroy a
number of mediaeval civilizations? What role did Chinggis Khan play in these
processes? What were the reasons for creation of the Mongolian empire 
and other
nomadic empires? What was the basis of Chinggis Khan's power? What were the
features of the Mongols and other nomadic empires' structure of 
hierarchy? Was
the Mongol empire a state or a supercomplex chiefdom? Finally, What part 
did the
Mongol empire play in the world-system processes?


The Cossack Communities, Identity and Power on the Eurasian Space in the 
16th -
20th Centuries
Convenor: Dr. Sergey M. Markedonov (Department of Interethnic Relations
Problems, Institute for Political and Military Analysis, 20/6, bldg. 1
Kuznetskiy Most St., 107031 Moscow, Russia; E-mail: smark@pochta.ru;
smark-72@mail.ru)

During the last 10 or 15 years the history of the Cossacks has been 
arising a
considerable interest of both academics and politicians. It is manifested in
numerous publications and conferences on the Cossacks. The conferences have
revealed the subjects, dealt with the history of the Cossacks, 
predominantly in
the context of the events in this or that separate region (Ukraine, the
Caucasus, Siberia, the Far East) or in the context of military or 
socio-economic
history. Moreover, the Cossacks are considered as a completely Russian
historical phenomenon, while the Cossack communities existed not only on the
territory of contemporary Russia and within the boundaries of so called 
"Slavic
area" but also as a part of the Crimea Khanate, the Ottoman Empire, Qing 
China.
Thus, it is possible to ascertain that in the public and academy there 
are still
absent an integral notion of the Cossack phenomenon and its evolution, a
typology of the Cossack communities, etc. The main purpose of the 
proposed panel
is to accumulate papers on the history of the Cossacks given in the vein 
of the
civilization approach and regarding the regional factor, implying the 
research
emphasis on the interrelationship between the individual/community and the
state, on the specific features of culture (in the ethnographic and
civil-national meanings) and psychology, on spatial and symbolic 
geography, etc.
within the chronological frameworks from stable Cossack communities 
formation in
the 16th century to the 20th century, the period when the Cossacks 
existed in
different language and cultural milieu (in the Soviet Union and in 
emigration)
and enjoyed revival in the post-Soviet states. The following points for
discussion may be outlined: the political and judicial institutions of the
Cossacks and their evolution; the relations between the Cossack 
communities and
the Moscow state, Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Poland-Lithuania, 
etc.; the
Cossacks as a phenomenon of intercultural dialogue (the history of 
non-Slavic
ethnic component in the Cossack communities); the image of the Cossacks in
history (cultural stereotypes of their perception by other peoples);
self-identification of the Cossacks, the mechanisms of its transmission, the
ghosts of the Cossacks' "nationalism" and separatism; the Cossacks as a
political myth and political ideal in social thought of Russia, Ukraine, and
other European states; the "Cossack question" in the official policy and 
public
opinion of the Russian Empire in the 19th and early 20th centuries, 
contemporary
Russia and other post-Soviet states.


The Olmecs of Mesoamerica: Studies in Power and Hierarchy
Convenors: Prof. Richard A. Diehl (Box 870210, Department of Anthropology,
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0210, USA; Fax: + 1 205 348 
7937;
E-mail: rdiehl@tenhoor.as.ua.edu); Dr. Andrei V. Tabarev (Institute of
Archaeology and Ethnography, Novosibirsk University, 17 Lavrentieva St.,
Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia; E-mail: olmec@yandex.ru)

The Olmecs were the first civilization to emerge in pre-Columbian America.
Although they have long been famous for their spectacular Colossal Heads and
other stone monuments carved from multi-ton basalt boulders, until recently
little was known about the social, political, and economic underpinnings 
of this
civilization. Recent archaeological and iconographic studies have revealed a
wealth of data on these and many related topics. They will be addressed 
by the
panel members.


The Ruler and Socio-Cultural Norm in the Ancient World
Convenor: Dr. Alexander A. Nemirovskiy (Center for Comparative Studies of
Ancient Civilizations, Institute of World History, Russian Academy of 
Sciences,
32a Leninskiy pr., 119334 Moscow, Russia; Fax: + 7 095 938 1912; E-mails:
sidelts@inbox.ru; alexandre_029@yahoo.com; alexandre_092@yahoo.com)

The panel is designed to bring together papers on a rather specific 
topic. One
of the main questions we face while studying the phenomenon of hierarchy 
as a
means of society's (self)organization is redistribution of activities and
competence (both nominal and real) between rulers on the one hand and 
the whole
society on the other hand, especially with respect to the problem of how 
social
norms are maintained, modified and introduced. Every society functions 
according
to some rules, guaranteed by the society on the whole and, specifically, 
by its
political hierarchy. This hierarchy holds at its disposal some 
opportunities and
rights to change and interpret old norms, to introduce new ones or to ignore
them both on some extraordinary occasions and to some degree; the norm 
itself
recognizes and sets forward some rules at this point. It would be a 
complicated
but useful task to determine and understand nominal and real limits of these
rights and opportunities, and the panel is just aimed at contributing to 
this
field. In this respect ancient civilizations share some specific traits: 
it is
precisely at this stage of socio-cultural development that new-born 
hierarchies
intervene in the sphere of creation, manipulation and use of norms 
especially
actively and in various ways; on the other hand, this problematic is thought
upon, realized and developed very eagerly, but the society (contrary to the
modern period) does not codify or regularize the corresponding 
collisions; it
defines only the recommended vectors of behavior for the situations when it
deals with these collisions, but it does not create a system of concrete and
formalized mechanisms, institutions, or rules for their resolving. It 
means that
while exploring the essence and functioning of norms in antiquity we 
must look
more for precedents and cases (and their evaluation by society) than for 
laws or
edicts.


The Structure and Legitimation of Power in Ancient Societies of North-East
Africa, the Near and Middle East
Convenors: Prof. Eleonora E. Kormysheva (Institute for Oriental Studies, 
Russian
Academy of Sciences, 12 Rozhdestvenka St., Moscow, Russia; E-mail:
eleonora@orc.ru); Dr. Dan’el Kahn (Haifa University, Israel; E-mail:
danelka@netvision.net.il)

The proposed thematic scope of the panel includes the evidence from 
societies
belonging to a single Kulturkreis. The major factor of its development 
might be
defined as the strong political and ideological influence of the great 
rivers'
(the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates) civilizations. The regions of 
this area
represent all the three variants of social and political evolution in the
typology established by Igor Diakonoff (relative preponderance of the state
economy and the "despotic" political structure – Southern Mesopotamia,
early South-Western Iran – Elam; total preponderance of the state 
economy
and the "despotic" political structure – Egypt; the economic 
preponderance
of rural communities, which also had a strong influence on the royal 
power of
mostly military character, - Sudan, Eastern Mediterranean, the Armenian 
Upland,
the Iranian Upland in the time of formation and heyday of ethnically Iranian
political structures, Asia Minor). However, the doubtless historical 
leaders of
the whole area, as to the formation of the earliest polities (Fourth to 
early
Third Millennia B.C.E.), their regional entities (early to mid-Third 
Millennium
B.C.E.), and expansion to peripheral regions (actually, also from Fourth
Millennium B.C.E.) were the regions of the great rivers' valleys – 
Egypt
and Southern Mesopotamia. Hence, their civilizations were bound to lay a 
guiding
imprint not only on their immediate periphery but also on more distant 
areas,
which happened to fall into their scope (e.g., copper-mine regions of Asia
Minor, which became a victim of the aggression of the Mesopotamian Akkadian
empire as early as in the 24th-23rd centuries B.C.E.). The scope of the 
panel is
supposed to comprise the whole extend of the area's ancient history, up 
to its
early medieval period including the time after the Macedonian conquest, 
when the
area became a formative zone of the syncretic Hellenistic civilization 
(ca. 3rd
century B.C.E. – 3rd century C.E.). This chronological and territorial
extend permits to study within the panel a vast variety of interrelations
between societies of different types (all forms of social evolution in the
Diakonoff's typology plus classical Greek city-states) and their respective
ideologies and cultures in the sphere of construing and legitimating 
political
structures.


Transitions, Transformations and Interactions of Hierarchical Structures and
Social Networks in the Late 20th – Early 21st Centuries
Convenors: Dr. Alexei G. Loutskiy (Social Affairs Department, Moscow 
Government;
Tel.: + 7 095 290 7454; Fax: + 7 095 957 9682; E-mail: shaanxi@mail.ru); 
Oleg I.
Kavykin (Department of Cultural Anthropology, Center for Civilizational and
Regional Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 30/1 Spiridonovka st., 123001
Moscow, Russia; Tel.: + 7 095 291 4119; Fax: + 7 095 202 07 86; E-mails:
atrociter@mail.ru; oleg.kavykin@inafr.ru)

The panel's objective is to shed light on the following problems, among 
others
relevant to the panel's problematics: the partial transition of power from
hierarchical structures to social networks; institutionalization of 
subcultures
and the process of transformation from network organizations to hierarchical
structures; the pathways of hierarchies and networks transformations; the
principle of complimentarity in the network and hierarchical structures
functioning; global and local trends in the hierarchical structures and 
networks
development and transformations.

Visit the website at http://www.civreg.ru/english/conf/hierarchy2006.html


RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

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

INSTITUTE FOR AFRICAN STUDIES
30/1 Spiridonovka St., 123001 Moscow, RUSSIA
Tel.: + (7 095) 291 4119; Fax: + (7 095) 202 0786


RUSSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY FOR THE HUMANITIES

SCHOOL OF HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE AND LAW
6, Miusskaya Ploshad' 125267 Moscow, RUSSIA
Tel.: + (7 095) 298 5886; Fax: + (7 095) 298 0345