Denmark and national liberation in Southern Africa : a flexible response
This book describes and documents the development of Danish support to national liberation in Southern Africa and the two-sided humanitarian and political character of this support. It is based on previously restricted Danish ministry records and on NGO archives and interviews.The Nordic countries were unique in the Western world in their support to individuals, organisations and refugees, struggling to end institutionalised colonialism and racism and alleviate their humanitarian consequences. Nordic support was humanitarian and civilian, and to a large extent was given to refugees and to education. Increasingly, it came to involve national liberation movements and financial support to their civilian activities, at a time when these movements were politically and militarily struggling against the regimes in their countries-including the government of Portugal, a NATO military partner of Norway and Denmark.Danish support developed differently from that of the other Nordic countries. Official support was never given directly to liberation movements. Rather, Danish NGOs were employed to advise on Danish allocations and to distribute these allocations and carry out activities, using their own capacity or through their international networks. In the field of sanctions, Denmark shifted from a policy of awaiting a UN Security Council decision to imposing unilateral trade sanctions as the first Western country to do so, and the book analyses the political developments behind this.The study seeks to determine the events, rationales, arguments and decisions that led to the various forms of Danish support. Key questions are how Danish support was established as a purely humanitarian facility that later developed into supporting also the liberation movements, and how boycott was first considered to be an issue for the individual but eventually became national, official policy. The study seeks to describe why support and sanctions developed in the way and at the pace they did. Major factors involved were Danish public awareness of developments in Southern Africa, domestic political debates and mobilisation through NGOs.This focus on processes of change has been necessary in a field of Danish foreign relations that during the course of the research was recognised as being a very wide as well as a very interesting one. As a new field of research, and with the majority of the sources never having been studied before, this study has an aim to provide a platform for other researchers, journalists and students. Hopefully it will inspire others to investigate the whole issue further-or to consider it in a different perspective.
Christopher Munthe Morgenstierne
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:241390/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
2003
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
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English
Documenting Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa
This publication brings together a number of the ‘thinkpieces’ prepared for a workshop convened by the Nordic Africa Institute in Pretoria, South Africa, on 26–27 November, 2009. The workshop marked the end of the Institute’s Documentation Project on Liberation Struggles in Southern Africa. Leading scholars, researchers and others, from both the Nordic countries and southern Africa, concerned with documenting those struggles, attended the workshop. The papers included here concern both the history of those struggles and the sources for that history.
Christopher Saunders (ed.)
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:344963/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
2010
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
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English
Finland and national liberation in Southern Africa
Finland's special characteristics as a Nordic, non-aligned welfare state gave it the resources and motivation to support liberation movements - in spite of restrictions arising from trade interests and a reluctance to jeopardise the country's neutral image. The study shows that, although it is not an easy task, in a democracy ordinary, dedicated people can, over time, influence political decision making at its most closed and guarded area, foreign politics.
Iina Soiri & Pekka Peltola
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:272620/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
1999
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
PDF
English
Liberation in Southern Africa - regional and Swedish voices : interviews from Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the frontline and Sweden
The interviews in this book were conducted for the Nordic Africa Institute's research project 'National liberation in Southern Africa - The role of the Nordic countries'. Around 80 representatives of the Southern African liberation movements, as well as Swedish and other opinion makers, administrators and politicians, reflect on the Nordic support to these struggles. Prominent leaders - among them Joaquim Chissano, Kenneth Kaunda and Thabo Mbeki - give their views on a relationship that largely developed outside the public arena. The book is a reference source to a unique North-South relationship in the Cold War period.
Tor Sellström (ed.)
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:272726/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
2002
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
PDF
English
Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa (vol. 1)
Sweden’s and the other Nordic countries’ support for the national liberation process and struggle against apartheid was unique in the international context both in regard to the size of the financial support and the extensive popular involvement. This book attempts to document the involvement of Sweden in the Southern African struggles against colonialism, occupation and white minority rule. While Volume I set out to identify the actors and factors behind the involvement, the aim of the present volume is to illustrate the Swedish participation. The focus of this study is on official assistance to the national liberation movements but the important role played by the organized Swedish solidarity movement and other non-governmental organizations also forms part of the narration. The study also attempts to contribute to a broader understanding of the international aspects of the Thirty Years’ War in the region, a significant chapter in the quest for national self-determination, democracy and human rights towards the end of the troubled 20th century. Primarily written for the general reader interested in relations between Sweden and the Southern African liberation movements, the presentation should also provide material and theoretical enquiries with regard to, for example, Swedish foreign policy in the cold war era; regional developments in a bipolar world; and the diplomatic initiatives, political alliances and material conditions of the different movements. This book is a part of the Nordic Africa Institute’s Research Project National Liberation in Southern Africa. The Role of the Nordic Countries. The result of the project is a unique documentation, mainly drawing on hitherto restricted official primary sources. This book, together with the other studies published within the project, forms a valuable reference source for everyone interested in the 20th century history of Southern Africa in particular or North/South and international relations in general. Part 1: Formation of a popular opinion (1950-1970) Part 2: Solidarity and Assistance 1970–1994
Tor Sellström (ed.)
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:272713/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
1999
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
PDF
English
Sweden and National Liberation in Southern Africa (vol. 2)
Sweden’s and the other Nordic countries’ support for the national liberation process and struggle against apartheid was unique in the international context both in regard to the size of the financial support and the extensive popular involvement. This book attempts to document the involvement of Sweden in the Southern African struggles against colonialism, occupation and white minority rule. While Volume I set out to identify the actors and factors behind the involvement, the aim of the present volume is to illustrate the Swedish participation. The focus of this study is on official assistance to the national liberation movements but the important role played by the organized Swedish solidarity movement and other non-governmental organizations also forms part of the narration. The study also attempts to contribute to a broader understanding of the international aspects of the Thirty Years’ War in the region, a significant chapter in the quest for national self-determination, democracy and human rights towards the end of the troubled 20th century. Primarily written for the general reader interested in relations between Sweden and the Southern African liberation movements, the presentation should also provide material and theoretical enquiries with regard to, for example, Swedish foreign policy in the cold war era; regional developments in a bipolar world; and the diplomatic initiatives, political alliances and material conditions of the different movements. This book is a part of the Nordic Africa Institute’s Research Project National Liberation in Southern Africa. The Role of the Nordic Countries. The result of the project is a unique documentation, mainly drawing on hitherto restricted official primary sources. This book, together with the other studies published within the project, forms a valuable reference source for everyone interested in the 20th century history of Southern Africa in particular or North/South and international relations in general. Part 1: Formation of a popular opinion (1950-1970) Part 2: Solidarity and Assistance 1970–1994
Tor Sellström (ed.)
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:241772/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
2002
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
PDF
English
Norway and National Liberation in Southern Africa
This book documents and analyses the involvement of Norway in the liberation struggle in Southern Africa. Apart from focussing on the formulation of official policies and the extensive cooperation with the liberation movements in the field of humanitarian assistance, mainly based on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs records, the study highlights the popular involvement and commitment to the struggle. Separate chapters are concerned with the churches, trade unions and solidarity movements, such as the Norwegian Council for Southern Africa and the Namibia Committee. The book also includes a case study on the battle for sanctions.The Study forms part of the Nordic Africa Institute's research and documentation project "National Liberation in Southern Africa: The Role of the Nordic Countries".
Tore Linné Eriksen (ed.)
http://nai.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:271589/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Nordic Africa Institute
2000
© Nordiska Afrikainstitutet
PDF
English