The Post-Colonial Constitutional Order of the Commonwealth Caribbean: The Endurance of the Crown and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

ABSTRACT

Amongst Britain's former colonies the independent countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean represent something of an anomaly in so far as the majority of them remain constitutional monarchies and continue to retain the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) as their final appellate court, even though the region has had its own final appellate court – the Caribbean Court of Justice – since 2006. This is in marked contrast to Britain's former colonies in Africa and South Asia, the majority of which switched to republicanism soon after independence and at the same time abolished rights of appeal to the JCPC. This paper seeks to uncover the reasons for this anomaly by examining how the path that led to independence was shaped by a particular conception of Dominion status and by the willingness of nationalist leaders to embrace a dual identity: equal parts West Indian nationalist and Empire loyalist. It will also examine the phenomenon of the ‘postcolony’; being the persistence of the colonial order following the acquisition of constitutional independence. The paper has three aims. Firstly, to contribute to a better understanding of the impact of Dominion status and all that it symbolised in a region which is often overlooked in the scholarly literature on this topic. Secondly, better to understand the competing political forces that led three countries in the region to adopt republicanism, but inhibited its adoption elsewhere in the region. Thirdly, and finally, to enhance discussion of the complex nexus between republicanism and the abolition of rights of appeal to the JCPC where political and juridical considerations do not neatly align.     

Edward Abramowski's concept of stateless socialism and its impact on progressive social movements in Poland in the twentieth century

The author traces the impact of Abramowski's ideas on the recent history of Poland. His concepts were not only popular in the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) and the syndicalist movement in the interwar period (1918–1939), but they also exerted a profound influence on the cooperative movement and democratic left-wing opposition in the 1970s and 1980s. The leaders of the Workers’ Defence Committee (KOR) were much influenced by Abramowski's ideas and, according to some researchers, the Solidarity movement from 1980 to 1981 in Poland was the culmination of his concepts. Today's anti-systemic movements in Poland (anarchists, syndicalists, alter-globalists) are also inspired by Abramowski. The author also draws attention to certain similarities between Abramowski's ideas, Kropotkin's idea, Gramsci's concept of civil society and the thought of the young Marx. The author also outlines Abramowski's social ideas in the context of ideas promoted by the main theoreticians of the Polish left in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.     

Seeking evidence: The 1984 visit to Nanjing by a Japanese investigative team and its significance

ABSTRACT

In December 1984, a private Japanese academic organization, the “Nanjing Incident Research Committee” (Nankin Jiken Chōsa Kenkyūkai), sent a survey team to visit Nanjing, with the aim of obtaining more evidence on the Nanjing Massacre to counter the internal debate within Japan. Through the coordination by the “Office of the Leading Team on History, Museums and Monuments for the Nanjing Massacre” during the visit, the survey team was able not only to gather historical materials, meet with survivors, and tour historical sites, but also to engage in exchanges with Nanjing researchers and students of Nanjing University. This visit to Nanjing further publicized Japan’s internal debate on the Nanjing Massacre in China, while also representing an unprecedented effort for collaboration between China and Japan in research on the Nanjing Massacre.     

"革命局"辨析

据苏俄、共产国际的有关档案记载。1920—1921年间在上海和中国其他几个大城市曾出现过“革命局”(ревбюоро)。对于“革命局”究竟是什么组织。目前已有几位党史学者发表了不同的意见,分别视其为:中共上海发起组及各地共产主义小组、社会主义者同盟的领导机构、具有统一战线性质的机构和俄共在华组织。这几种看法均值得商榷。从档案原文和“革命局”的名称、组织系统、自身结构与功能任务等方面来看,1920年夏成立于上海的“革命局”实际上是直属共产国际东亚书记处的具体负责中国共产主义运动的机构,而在其他城市的“革命局”则是设于上海的“中央局”的分支机构。虽然革命局后来的隶属关系、组织机构有所变化,但其作为共产国际的在华一级机关的性质却始终如一,在指导建立共产党、推动各革命团体的活动、实施共产主义宣传等工作上发挥了重要作用。随其主要使命的基本完成和中共的成立,革命局也归于消失。     

Unruly topographies: unemployment, citizenship and land settlement in inter-war Wales

Between 1934 and 1939, over 5000 people, mainly ex-miners and their families, were settled in government-owned land settlements in England and Wales. This policy emerged as a response to mass unemployment, and complemented other schemes for the unemployed developed by the inter-war National Government. This paper will consider the geographical conditions that were imagined, realized and contested in these settlements. Acknowledging the hybrid and liminal nature of these spaces, the paper mobilizes new work in cultural and historical geography and draws out the heterotopic potential of the settlement programme.     

中央财政经济委员会成立始末

中央财政经济委员会从 194 8年 9月中央政治局扩大会议提出逐步统一财经工作 ,到194 9年 3月中共七届二中全会正式决定建立 ,经过筹备 ,于 194 9年 7月 12日正式成立。中央财政经济委员会是由原中央财政经济部与华北财经委员会合并成立的 ,简称“中财委” ,由陈云任主任、薄一波任副主任。中财委成立后在短短两个月内 ,在稳定当时的金融物价、统一财经管理、调整工商业方面做了大量的工作 ,为建国初期财政经济的恢复和发展奠定了一定的基础。 194 9年 10月 2 1日 ,政务院财经委员会在中央财政经济委员会的基础上成立 ,5年后 ,政务院财政经济委员会撤消 ,其职能被国务院相关部委和直属机构所取代。     

尺度政治中的空间重叠及其制度形态塑造研究——以深汕特别合作区为例

以深汕特别合作区为例,借鉴依赖空间和交互空间分析思路,对基于共同利益而非对抗性的尺度政治过程进行分析。其中,深圳市对连续依赖空间的建构、汕尾市对依赖空间交互功能的挖掘、广东省在交互空间中的管制试验等分别定义了它们各自的依赖空间和交互空间,这些空间在多个尺度上相互重叠,并集中体现在深汕特别合作区这一新的尺度和制度空间中。在这种情况下,各行动者依赖和交互空间的性质、行动者间的相对权力关系以及各自掌握的不同资源等因素共同塑造了合作区的组织架构、管理权限和利益分配等制度形态。     

金华市特殊教育现状的调查研究

特殊教育是对残疾人的一种教育,是社会的人本、民主、公平的反映,是国家及其文明程度的一个窗口。通过对浙江省金华市七所特殊教育学校现状的调查与研究,了解到近几年金华市的特殊教育有很大的发展,但是在办学规模、地理位置、师资力量、硬件设施等方面还存在不足,影响了学龄残疾儿童的入学率与特殊教育的发展速度。故立足于金华市特教的现实问题,提出具有可行性的方法与对策,促进金华市特殊教育事业更好更快的发展。     

1924-1945年国民党海外部与侨务工作考论

针对目前学术界在民国侨务政策、侨务工作方面的研究对象主要是侨委会,对于海外部仅粗略涉及的现状,依据相关档案及其它文献资料,对国民党海外部的沿革、职能、其侨务工作实绩及与侨务委员会之间的关系等方面做了分析和阐述。认为国民政府的侨务委员会与国民党海外党部从党政两个权力系统推展侨务工作,二者分工合作,相辅相成。抗战前,以侨委会为主;抗战爆发后,特别是太平洋战事发生以及日本推行南进政策后,以海外党部为代表的党务系统在侨务工作中发挥了更大的作用。