Engaging Scientific Diasporas For Development Policy And Practices

Drawing on examples from the global North and South, this book examines the relationship between migration, development and diaspora engagement from a governance perspective. It explores the ways that governments interact with their own extra-national diasporic populations in order to boost economic development, build global trading and investment networks, and increase their political leverage overseas. Inside, readers will find fifteen essays which highlight such issues as diaspora engagement by governments at different scales, the divisions that often exist within diaspora groups, diaspora transnationalism and return migration, diaspora knowledge networks and higher education capacity building, and the neglected issues of South-South migration and diasporas as well as North-South migration and diasporas. The book presents empirical case studies from various geographical contexts including Australia, Canada, the Philippines, India, the Caribbean, Zimbabwe, and the United States. Overall, this book presents fresh insights into how and why migrant-sending countries are increasingly turning to the diaspora option to attempt to benefit from the transfer of knowledge, skills and financial and social capital. It provides policy makers, researchers, and students with new perspectives on governance and the means by which states are attempting to utilize their diaspora resources.

This publication explores different challenges posed to home and host country governments engaging with their diasporas for development purposes. How to define diasporas? How to gather data on diasporas? How to incorporate diaspora contributions into development strategies? How to identify most relevant partners within the diasporas? What incentives are conducive to diaspora contributions? What resources are available within diasporas and how can their impact on development be maximized? What is the role for policy? These are some of the questions raised in this publication.

Over the last two decades, globalisation has accelerated international migration flows, particularly of skilled labour. Yet increasing migration by skilled workers from developing countries («brain drain») has raised serious concerns internationally about the adverse development impact on their countries of origin. This book, however, highlights the positive aspects of skilled labour migration as scientific diasporas are playing a growing role in the transfer of technology, skills and knowledge («brain gain») to their home countries. This is a very significant development in a globalised world where science, technology and knowledge can trigger economic and social transformations. The book presents solid empirical evidence of the contributions scientific diasporas make to their countries of origin, based on primary surveys of skilled migrants from Colombia, India and South Africa employed in Switzerland, a major destination country. The findings lead to a better understanding of the motives for migration, the profile of the scientific diaspora communities in Switzerland, and the varied ways in which they help their home countries. The book makes a significant contribution to the international policy debate and dialogue on migration and development. In particular, it shows how to leverage the potential of scientific diasporas as agents of home country development, by identifying good practices and offering specific recommendations for the countries of origin and of destination.

Over the last two decades, globalisation has accelerated international migration flows, particularly of skilled labour. Yet increasing migration by skilled workers from developing countries («brain drain») has raised serious concerns internationally about the adverse development impact on their countries of origin. This book, however, highlights the positive aspects of skilled labour migration as scientific diasporas are playing a growing role in the transfer of technology, skills and knowledge («brain gain») to their home countries. This is a very significant development in a globalised world where science, technology and knowledge can trigger economic and social transformations. The book presents solid empirical evidence of the contributions scientific diasporas make to their countries of origin, based on primary surveys of skilled migrants from Colombia, India and South Africa employed in Switzerland, a major destination country. The findings lead to a better understanding of the motives for migration, the profile of the scientific diaspora communities in Switzerland, and the varied ways in which they help their home countries. The book makes a significant contribution to the international policy debate and dialogue on migration and development. In particular, it shows how to leverage the potential of scientific diasporas as agents of home country development, by identifying good practices and offering specific recommendations for the countries of origin and of destination.

This publication explores different challenges posed to home and host country governments engaging with their diasporas for development purposes. Topics covered include: defining and gathering data on diasporas; incorporating diaspora contributions into development strategies; partnering with relevant diasporas; home country programmes and incentives conducive to diaspora contributions; identifying resources available within diasporas and how their impact on development can be maximised.

State governments recognize the value diaspora populations bring to development efforts worldwide. Since 2007, the Global Forum on Migration and Development has examined ways to highlight policies and programs that can magnify the resources, both human and financial, that emigrants and their descendants contribute to development. This handbook continues that effort on the basis of earlier investigations by the book's collaborating institutions, the academic and policy literature, consultations and in-depth interviews with government officials and nongovernmental actors, and input by 62 national governments. The handbook is divided into three major parts. Each part gives concrete examples of policies and programs that have been effective, and pulls out both useful lessons and common challenges associated with the topics at hand. The pivotal question now facing many policymakers is not so much if diasporas can benefit their countries of origin but how they do so and what kinds of government policies and programs can foster these relationships.

​This volume discusses how diasporas have evolved and engaged in economic, social and cultural domains of their host and home countries across the globe. The volume is divided into six parts: Issues, Challenges and Development Experiences; Diaspora Finance and Economic Development; Knowledge Transfer and Diasporas; The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion; Gender and Diasporas; and Representation in Film, Theatre and Literature. It is truly a global representation of diasporic engagement. Its contributions come from experts in various disciplines across the globe, and the chapters cover socioeconomic, policy-related and cultural elements in countries as far apart as New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The contributors discuss major issues related to local communities' engagement with the diaspora and diaspora--home relations in Africa, West Asia, South and South-east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, China, and the USA, providing a panoramic view of diasporic flows in the twenty-first century. The interdisciplinary thrust of the volume, together with its global focus, makes this volume useful to researchers, academics and experts from the social sciences, population sciences and development studies, as also to analysts and policymakers across the world.