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).

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.

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