Neil Diamant | Dickinson College (original) (raw)
Papers by Neil Diamant
China Journal, 2015
Carta in England gave birth to the constitutional law that is now the foundation of many societie... more Carta in England gave birth to the constitutional law that is now the foundation of many societies. History shows that its essence is the restriction of power. " 3. The PRC constitution grants freedom of publishing. These events were extensively covered in the Western media.
Armed Forces & Society, Jul 22, 2014
What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest ... more What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest has produced little on veterans' collection action, and even less on that by ex-officers. Newspaper reports, police journals, and veterans' blogs show that contention by Chinese former officers (ranging from occupying government compounds to marches, mass petitioning, open letters, and class action lawsuits) is the result of bad luck in post-military job assignments, a fragmented political system that makes it difficult to ensure that pensions and other benefits reach retirees, and pervasive corruption that leads ex-officers to feel that local officials have embezzled funds meant for them. Contention by former officers typically uses military rhetoric and builds on military experiences, even for former officers who were employed in civilian jobs for many years. Although contention by ex-officers is not likely to rock the state, it says much about how ''sticky'' military identities are, where veterans fit in the political landscape, Leninist civil-military relations, and the treatment that old soldiers receive in a fast changing socioeconomic order.
This book pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and offic... more This book pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and officials in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Scholars have argued that China, like the former Soviet Union, promulgated constitutions to enhance its domestic and international legitimacy by opening up the constitution-making process to ordinary people, and by granting its citizens political and socioeconomic rights. But what did ordinary officials and people say about their constitutions and rights? Did constitutions contribute to state legitimacy? Over the course of four decades, the PRC government encouraged millions of citizens to pose questions about, and suggest revisions to, the draft of a new constitution. Seizing this opportunity, people asked both straightforward questions like “what is a state?”, but also others that, through implication, harshly criticized the document and the government that sponsored it. They pressed officials to clarify the meaning of words, phrases, a...
The Cambridge Law Journal, 2007
Engaging the Law in China, 2005
Armed Forces & Society, 2014
What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest ... more What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest has produced little on veterans' collection action, and even less on that by ex-officers. Newspaper reports, police journals, and veterans' blogs show that contention by Chinese former officers (ranging from occupying government compounds to marches, mass petitioning, open letters, and class action lawsuits) is the result of bad luck in post-military job assignments, a fragmented political system that makes it difficult to ensure that pensions and other benefits reach retirees, and pervasive corruption that leads ex-officers to feel that local officials have embezzled funds meant for them. Contention by former officers typically uses military rhetoric and builds on military experiences, even for former officers who were employed in civilian jobs for many years. Although contention by ex-officers is not likely to rock the state, it says much about how ''sticky'' military identities are, where veterans fit in the political landscape, Leninist civil-military relations, and the treatment that old soldiers receive in a fast changing socioeconomic order.
Modern China, 2014
This article examines protest, petitioning, lawsuits, open letters, blogging, and other forms of ... more This article examines protest, petitioning, lawsuits, open letters, blogging, and other forms of activism by Chinese veterans. Moving beyond images of heroic soldiers in the official media, and the near absence of reporting on veterans’ problems, we draw mainly on blog posts and military websites where veterans share their experiences of post-army life. We find that, overall, veterans have had difficulty adjusting to the economic, social, cultural, and political changes of the reform era, with many of them finding themselves left behind as other groups have leapt ahead. Veterans complain about poverty, unresolved medical problems, and lack of respect for their contributions to the nation. Not a few have experienced terrible indignities at the hands of security officials and a leadership that is bent on preventing any interest group formation that might ameliorate veterans’ problems.
What happened to veterans of the nations involved in the world wars? How did they fare when they ... more What happened to veterans of the nations involved in the world wars? How did they fare when they returned home and needed benefits? How were they recognized — or not — by their governments and fellow citizens? Where and under what circumstances did they obtain an elevated postwar status? This book examines veterans' struggles for entitlements and benefits in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, the Soviet Union, China, Germany, and Australia after both global conflicts. It illuminates how veterans' success or failure in winning benefits were affected by a range of factors that shaped their ability to exert political influence. Some veterans' groups fought politicians for improvements to their postwar lives; this lobbying, the book shows, could set the foundation for beneficial veteran treatment regimes or weaken the political forces proposing unfavorable policies. The book highlights cases of veterans who secured (and in some cases failed to secure) bene...
Journal of Cold War Studies
This article uses comments, questions, and conversations about the PRC's draft constitution o... more This article uses comments, questions, and conversations about the PRC's draft constitution of 1954 to assess state legitimacy and how people felt more generally about the Communist regime. Taking advantage of untapped archival sources in Hong Kong and the mainland—including classified intraparty reports and transcripts from meetings in factories, police stations, universities, and villages—this article challenges the conventional view that the constitution bolstered support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Instead, the document generated a great deal of anxiety among ordinary citizens, as well as among CCP officials and the regime's favored classes. This “text-based” cause of emotional turmoil was a supplement to the classic forms of political terror that dominate the literature on Communist dictatorships. Despite widespread confusion, people's identification of problematic sections of the constitution turned out to be remarkably prescient in light of political di...
Journal of Chinese History
Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism hav... more Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism have tended to focus on its intellectual origins, or, more commonly these days, its failure to restrain official behavior. Drawing upon new archival materials, this article takes a different tack. I zero in on a critical period of constitutional gestation, when officials read the 1954 constitution in draft form, posed questions about its text and suggested revisions. How did officials react when told that citizens, many of whom were recently persecuted, now enjoy “freedom of assembly”? These materials allow us to see “the state” in real time: How did officials understand core legal concepts such as “right,” “constitution” and “citizen” as well as their role in the new polity? In many respects, the discussion surrounding the draft constitution turned out to be a venue for officials to talk about the meaning of the revolution they had just experienced.
Journal of Chinese History
Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism hav... more Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism have tended to focus on its intellectual origins, or, more commonly these days, its failure to restrain official behavior. Drawing upon new archival materials, this article takes a different tack. I zero in on a critical period of constitutional gestation, when officials read the 1954 constitution in draft form, posed questions about its text and suggested revisions. How did officials react when told that citizens, many of whom were recently persecuted, now enjoy “freedom of assembly”? These materials allow us to see “the state” in real time: How did officials understand core legal concepts such as “right,” “constitution” and “citizen” as well as their role in the new polity? In many respects, the discussion surrounding the draft constitution turned out to be a venue for officials to talk about the meaning of the revolution they had just experienced.
Law & Society Review, 2001
Contemporary Sociology, 2001
... Without any prompting, she told me that she was recently divorced: "... more ... Without any prompting, she told me that she was recently divorced: "My husband was too ... in dealing with matters that in modern Shanghai were considered private (such as love and divorce ... In Plato's Laws, for instance, the state was conceptualized as a union of households and ...
Journal of East Asian Studies, 2008
... Their hero is Gen-eral Vo Nguyen Giap, the great strategist of Vietnam's victories again... more ... Their hero is Gen-eral Vo Nguyen Giap, the great strategist of Vietnam's victories against the French and Americans.11 ... ened a large demonstration if the government forced them to return to the countryside.63 This initial reception did not bode well for veterans' future job ...
Frontiers of History in China, 2014
China Journal, 2015
Carta in England gave birth to the constitutional law that is now the foundation of many societie... more Carta in England gave birth to the constitutional law that is now the foundation of many societies. History shows that its essence is the restriction of power. " 3. The PRC constitution grants freedom of publishing. These events were extensively covered in the Western media.
Armed Forces & Society, Jul 22, 2014
What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest ... more What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest has produced little on veterans' collection action, and even less on that by ex-officers. Newspaper reports, police journals, and veterans' blogs show that contention by Chinese former officers (ranging from occupying government compounds to marches, mass petitioning, open letters, and class action lawsuits) is the result of bad luck in post-military job assignments, a fragmented political system that makes it difficult to ensure that pensions and other benefits reach retirees, and pervasive corruption that leads ex-officers to feel that local officials have embezzled funds meant for them. Contention by former officers typically uses military rhetoric and builds on military experiences, even for former officers who were employed in civilian jobs for many years. Although contention by ex-officers is not likely to rock the state, it says much about how ''sticky'' military identities are, where veterans fit in the political landscape, Leninist civil-military relations, and the treatment that old soldiers receive in a fast changing socioeconomic order.
This book pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and offic... more This book pulls back the curtain on early constitutional conversations between citizens and officials in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Scholars have argued that China, like the former Soviet Union, promulgated constitutions to enhance its domestic and international legitimacy by opening up the constitution-making process to ordinary people, and by granting its citizens political and socioeconomic rights. But what did ordinary officials and people say about their constitutions and rights? Did constitutions contribute to state legitimacy? Over the course of four decades, the PRC government encouraged millions of citizens to pose questions about, and suggest revisions to, the draft of a new constitution. Seizing this opportunity, people asked both straightforward questions like “what is a state?”, but also others that, through implication, harshly criticized the document and the government that sponsored it. They pressed officials to clarify the meaning of words, phrases, a...
The Cambridge Law Journal, 2007
Engaging the Law in China, 2005
Armed Forces & Society, 2014
What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest ... more What drives retired military officers in China toward contention? Decades of research on protest has produced little on veterans' collection action, and even less on that by ex-officers. Newspaper reports, police journals, and veterans' blogs show that contention by Chinese former officers (ranging from occupying government compounds to marches, mass petitioning, open letters, and class action lawsuits) is the result of bad luck in post-military job assignments, a fragmented political system that makes it difficult to ensure that pensions and other benefits reach retirees, and pervasive corruption that leads ex-officers to feel that local officials have embezzled funds meant for them. Contention by former officers typically uses military rhetoric and builds on military experiences, even for former officers who were employed in civilian jobs for many years. Although contention by ex-officers is not likely to rock the state, it says much about how ''sticky'' military identities are, where veterans fit in the political landscape, Leninist civil-military relations, and the treatment that old soldiers receive in a fast changing socioeconomic order.
Modern China, 2014
This article examines protest, petitioning, lawsuits, open letters, blogging, and other forms of ... more This article examines protest, petitioning, lawsuits, open letters, blogging, and other forms of activism by Chinese veterans. Moving beyond images of heroic soldiers in the official media, and the near absence of reporting on veterans’ problems, we draw mainly on blog posts and military websites where veterans share their experiences of post-army life. We find that, overall, veterans have had difficulty adjusting to the economic, social, cultural, and political changes of the reform era, with many of them finding themselves left behind as other groups have leapt ahead. Veterans complain about poverty, unresolved medical problems, and lack of respect for their contributions to the nation. Not a few have experienced terrible indignities at the hands of security officials and a leadership that is bent on preventing any interest group formation that might ameliorate veterans’ problems.
What happened to veterans of the nations involved in the world wars? How did they fare when they ... more What happened to veterans of the nations involved in the world wars? How did they fare when they returned home and needed benefits? How were they recognized — or not — by their governments and fellow citizens? Where and under what circumstances did they obtain an elevated postwar status? This book examines veterans' struggles for entitlements and benefits in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, the Soviet Union, China, Germany, and Australia after both global conflicts. It illuminates how veterans' success or failure in winning benefits were affected by a range of factors that shaped their ability to exert political influence. Some veterans' groups fought politicians for improvements to their postwar lives; this lobbying, the book shows, could set the foundation for beneficial veteran treatment regimes or weaken the political forces proposing unfavorable policies. The book highlights cases of veterans who secured (and in some cases failed to secure) bene...
Journal of Cold War Studies
This article uses comments, questions, and conversations about the PRC's draft constitution o... more This article uses comments, questions, and conversations about the PRC's draft constitution of 1954 to assess state legitimacy and how people felt more generally about the Communist regime. Taking advantage of untapped archival sources in Hong Kong and the mainland—including classified intraparty reports and transcripts from meetings in factories, police stations, universities, and villages—this article challenges the conventional view that the constitution bolstered support for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Instead, the document generated a great deal of anxiety among ordinary citizens, as well as among CCP officials and the regime's favored classes. This “text-based” cause of emotional turmoil was a supplement to the classic forms of political terror that dominate the literature on Communist dictatorships. Despite widespread confusion, people's identification of problematic sections of the constitution turned out to be remarkably prescient in light of political di...
Journal of Chinese History
Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism hav... more Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism have tended to focus on its intellectual origins, or, more commonly these days, its failure to restrain official behavior. Drawing upon new archival materials, this article takes a different tack. I zero in on a critical period of constitutional gestation, when officials read the 1954 constitution in draft form, posed questions about its text and suggested revisions. How did officials react when told that citizens, many of whom were recently persecuted, now enjoy “freedom of assembly”? These materials allow us to see “the state” in real time: How did officials understand core legal concepts such as “right,” “constitution” and “citizen” as well as their role in the new polity? In many respects, the discussion surrounding the draft constitution turned out to be a venue for officials to talk about the meaning of the revolution they had just experienced.
Journal of Chinese History
Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism hav... more Following the history of western constitutional history, studies of Chinese constitutionalism have tended to focus on its intellectual origins, or, more commonly these days, its failure to restrain official behavior. Drawing upon new archival materials, this article takes a different tack. I zero in on a critical period of constitutional gestation, when officials read the 1954 constitution in draft form, posed questions about its text and suggested revisions. How did officials react when told that citizens, many of whom were recently persecuted, now enjoy “freedom of assembly”? These materials allow us to see “the state” in real time: How did officials understand core legal concepts such as “right,” “constitution” and “citizen” as well as their role in the new polity? In many respects, the discussion surrounding the draft constitution turned out to be a venue for officials to talk about the meaning of the revolution they had just experienced.
Law & Society Review, 2001
Contemporary Sociology, 2001
... Without any prompting, she told me that she was recently divorced: "... more ... Without any prompting, she told me that she was recently divorced: "My husband was too ... in dealing with matters that in modern Shanghai were considered private (such as love and divorce ... In Plato's Laws, for instance, the state was conceptualized as a union of households and ...
Journal of East Asian Studies, 2008
... Their hero is Gen-eral Vo Nguyen Giap, the great strategist of Vietnam's victories again... more ... Their hero is Gen-eral Vo Nguyen Giap, the great strategist of Vietnam's victories against the French and Americans.11 ... ened a large demonstration if the government forced them to return to the countryside.63 This initial reception did not bode well for veterans' future job ...
Frontiers of History in China, 2014