Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal/Cases/2008-04-07 Rhodesian Bush War

Who are the involved parties?
On my side, myself, Shiku, JackyR, RWRM, Jpool, Babakathy, TheBlacklist. On the opposing side Xdamr, Bluelist, Bnynms, Michael, 88.105.173.23, Deon Steyn, Sf46, 121.222.128.116, Perpicacite, Wizzy

What's going on?
Unsettled dispute over the name of the article.

What would you like to change about that?
Would like "Rhodesian Bush War" changed to "Second Chimurenga."

Mediator notes
Just a note to whoever may accept this case, maybe it would be a good idea if a representative from each side is chosen, and the mediator interacts with one person from each side, instead of every single person? This would be like as documented in Mediation. Thats official mediation, but it may be appropriate for usage here. It's up to the mediator who takes this case, but that's what I'd be doing. Steve Crossin  (talk)   (anon talk)  16:50, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I agree that this policy should be followed here. Mww113   (talk)    (Report a mistake!) 21:12, 10 April 2008 (UTC) Seeing that this request was made a few days ago, I revise my decision to follow this policy. Mww113   (talk)    (Report a mistake!) 21:37, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Discussion
I would prefer we discuss here rather than on the article. Mww113   (talk)    (Report a mistake!) 21:09, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

Case for the support
Would a member of the support please provide a reason as to why the page should be moved? Mww113   (talk)    (Report a mistake!) 21:40, 10 April 2008 (UTC)

I've been away a few days and only just now saw that you had agreed to mediate, but then closed the case already? I hope it can be reopened. Here is the case for the move: 1) "Second Chimurenga" is the name for the war most widely accepted within Zimbabwe itself, even when English is being spoken, by all parties, including most of those opposed to the ZANU-PF government. 2) "Second Chimurenga" is also supported by academic consensus, although "Zimbabwean War of Liberation" is also commonly used. 3) "Rhodesian Bush War" is rejected by all these parties because it was the name given the struggle by the Rhodesian Front and their supporters, because the name fails to take into account that the war led to the emergence of the modern state of Zimbabwe, finally under black majority rule, which had, after all, been the point of the war in the first place, and because the term "Bush" is both inaccurate and derogatory. The war was not fought entirely in the "bush," and "bush" is generally used to describe something as a more primitive version of something, as in the term "bush telegraph." 4) The Library of Congress lists the war as "Chimurenga War." 5) The name "Chimurenga" is used throughout Africa and the African diaspora, as well as in left-wing circles. Hilmarc (talk) 13:25, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Using criteria from WP:NCON:
 * Is the name in common usage in English? Yes, not an English word but widely used in English language documents, press, and scholarly articles
 * Is it the official current name of the subject? Yes, as used in official documents in Zimbabwe.
 * Is it the name used by the subject to describe itself or themselves? By one side in the war and not the other. On the discussion page, others have argued that the name used by the winning side is important.
 * The Subjective criteria apply equally to Rhodesian Bush War and Second Chimurenga, except the last one "Is the use of the name politically unacceptable? " - each of the two names is politically unacceptable to one group. Babakathy (talk) 17:02, 18 April 2008 (UTC)

As a student of African politics and history, I would simply like to reiterate my firm support, as indicated on the Requested Move discussion, for the proposal that this entry be renamed Second Chimurenga. Hilmarc makes all of the relevant points above.--Dynino (talk) 12:45, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Case for the oppose
Would a member of the opposition please provide a reason as to why the page should NOT be moved? Mww113   (talk)    (Report a mistake!) 19:50, 17 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Sorry for not responding sooner, but no one notified any of the listed "involved parties" of any of the three discussions; 1st a Requested Move (Talk:Rhodesian Bush War#Copied from WP:RM), then this mediation followed by [for mediation/Rhodesian Bush War].
 * English language version of name should take preference.
 * Chimurenga is a Shona word meaning "fight" or "struggle" (according to the WP article) and not a proper name so it's use and meaning in unknown to most English language speakers.
 * Official use
 * The current Zim government uses the term chimurenga for all manner of "struggles", for instance referring to current "land reform" as the third chimurenga (Chimurenga), with the first chimurenga being the Second Matabele War (don't know why/if First Matabele War is included or not). How much weight should be given to the "official use" is therefore in question. One example of the official name not being used for an article is Burma —even though the current government of that country changed the name to Myanmar (which redirects to Burma).
 * Historical context (Naming conflict)
 * The term chimurenga even enumerated as first, second or third provides no immediate geographic or historical context. It's not even clear that it refers to a war. In fact there also exists Chimurenga music and a publication called Chimurenga. Rhodesian Bush War on the other hand immediately and unambiguously identifies the subject (war), the place and the time (1960s – 1970s, the period "Rhodesia" was in existence).
 * Winning side should chose name?
 * This is a weak argument and not a WP guideline which is why the article for the Vietnam War isn't called the "American War" and the First Indochina War isn't called the French War.
 * Rhodesian Bush War is:
 * The first common name used for the conflict,
 * neutral (not political connotation/invention),
 * English language (doesn't require translation or google search),
 * Provides an unambiguous historical context.
 * "Second Chimurenga" already redirects to this page and ALL the alternate names (also Zimbabwe Liberation Struggle) are listed in the introduction.
 * — Deon Steyn (talk) 07:51, 27 May 2008 (UTC)