The aim of the Conference, like that of the four previous ones, is to bring together the researchers doing the respective problematics in the whole variety of its contexts, within the framework of different academic schools and traditions from the positions of a wide range of disciplines: social anthropology, archaeology, history, political science, sociology, philosophy, psychology, etc.

The objective of the Conference is to discuss the following issues:
- hierarchical and net structures in the history of cultures and civilizations;
- civilizational and evolutionary models of socio-political development;
- historical and ethno-cultural variability of the forms of socio-political organization;
- from simple societies to the world-system: pathways and forms of political integration;
- socio-political and cultural-mental factors of social transformations;
- cultural and socio-biological foundations of dominance in human societies;
- ideology and legitimation of power in different civilizational contexts;
- cultural models of power's perception in different civilizations;
- violence and non-violence in the history of political institutions;
- access to information as a means of political manipulation and mobilization;
- power, society, and culture in the era of globalization;
- the study of “hierarchy and power”: schools, trends, and methods.

Suggestions for discussion of any other aspects of the general problematics 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, 2008. 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 number, 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, 2008. Besides that, the Organizing Committee reserves the right to establish invited and / or free communication panels. It is 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 2006 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 problematics. Proposals emphasizing theoretical and cross-regional approaches to the “hierarchy and power” problematics 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 150 euros (or the equivalent sum in US dollars or Russian rubles) which includes the visa application support at the Russian Foreign Ministry, 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 70 euros (or the equivalent sum in US dollars or Russian rubles) includes the visa application support at the Russian Foreign Ministry and participation in culture program.
The Organizing Committee can assist in accommodation booking at the hotel of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Downtown Moscow.

The prices for September 2007 are as follows:
about 187 euros per night for a SGL room and 186 euros for a DBL room.
Accommodation at the hotel “Uzkoye” of the Russian Academy of Sciences in a Moscow southern neighbourhood of is 97 euros per night (SGL room) and 123 euros (DBL room).

Please note that the prices may well be subjected to changes in the direction of growth. The independent reservation in any other Moscow hotel well in advance is strongly encouraged; furthermore it can turn out to be more reasonable. For further information you may consult the Internet sites: http://moscow-hotels.net and http://all-hotels.ru/moscow/. http://all-hotels.ru/moscow/.

Please do 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 the Conference Secretaries, Dr. Oleg I. Kavykin and Ms. Anastasia A. Banschikova, preferably by e-mail (conf2009@conf2009.ru), or either by fax (+ 7 495 202 0786), or by ordinary mail (Center for Civilizational and Regional Studies, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, 30/1 Spiridonovka St., 123001 Moscow, Russia). The telephone number is: + 7 495 291 4119.