This volume attempts to think through the relevance of the concept of legitimacy for other political actors than the state. The chapters in this book were originally published an a special issue in Small Wars & Insurgencies.

Isabelle Duyvesteyn is Professor of International Studies/Global History at the Institute of History at Leiden University, the Netherlands. She is a member of the national Advisory Council for International Affairs in the Netherlands and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA).

Foreword: How legitimacy helps explicate rebel governance Nelson Kasfir Introduction: Rebels & Legitimacy; An Introduction Isabelle Duyvesteyn Part I - The Concept and Practice of Rebel Legitimacy 1. Understanding the Legitimacy of Armed Groups: A Relational Perspective Sukanya Podder 2. (Re-)Emergent Orders: Understanding the Negotiation(s) of Rebel Governance James Worrall 3. Building Legitimacy: Interactional Dynamics and the Popular Evaluation of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey Eric W. Schoon 4. Civilian Cooperation and Non-Cooperation with Non-State Armed Groups: The Centrality of Obedience and Resistance Ana Arjona 5. Youth between State and Rebel (Dis)Orders: Contesting Legitimacy from Below in Sub-Sahara Africa Mirjam de Bruijn and Jonna Both 6. Militias and the Politics of Legitimacy Ulrich Schneckener Part II - Rebels and Dimensions of External Legitimacy Claims 7. Legitimacy and the Politics of Recognition in Kosovo Lee J. M. Seymour 8. All Counterinsurgency is Local: Counterinsurgency and Rebel Legitimacy Andrew J. Gawthorpe 9. 'Legitimacy is the Main Objective': Legitimation in Population-Centric Counterinsurgency Martijn Kitzen 10. From rebel to Quasi-State: Governance, Diplomacy and Legitimacy in the Midst of Afghanistan's Wars (1979-2001) Romain Malejacq 11. Subcontracting State-Building Abbey Steele and Jacob N. Shapiro