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Winning hearts and minds: legitimacy in the Namibian war for independence

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  • Lieneke Eloff de Visser

Abstract

Efforts at winning hearts and minds (WHAM) impact on and are affected by perceptions of legitimacy. In the Namibian war for independence (1966–1989) efforts of the South African counterinsurgent forces at winning hearts and minds focused mainly on persuading the population to cooperate in exchange for material benefits and services. The article demonstrates that this successfully contributed to a dimension of legitimacy that is conceptualized as pragmatic legitimacy. However, other dimensions of legitimacy are identified in which the South Africans were lacking, that is in moral, legal, and identity-based legitimacy. Furthermore, in areas where control was contested and where the population could not be shielded from insurgent intimidation, it is argued that the effects of coercion outweighed legitimacy altogether.

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  • Lieneke Eloff de Visser, 2013. "Winning hearts and minds: legitimacy in the Namibian war for independence," Small Wars and Insurgencies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 712-730, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:fswixx:v:24:y:2013:i:4:p:712-730
    DOI: 10.1080/09592318.2013.857942
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