NOVAFRICA Podcast: Leadership and Nation Building

In episode 7 of season 7 of the NOVAFRICA Sustainable Development Talks, we chat with Professor Lydia Assouad from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) about her article:

“Leadership and Nation-Building.”

In this conversation, Professor Assouad discusses how political leadership shaped nation-building in Turkey. She examines the effects of Atatürk’s visits to different regions, using causal methods to study changes in naming practices, cultural reforms, and the diffusion of national identity.

The episode also explores whether leadership qualities alone can sustain long-term reforms and what lessons her findings hold for today’s policymakers seeking to drive cultural change through top-down approaches.

Listen to the full episode here