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Diaspora, Brain Circulation and Indian Development

Perspectives from Australia and New Zealand

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Global Diasporas and Development

Abstract

It is increasingly claimed that knowledge is the most important commodity affecting the development of nations in a globalising world. This chapter considers the role of brain circulation of international students, professionals and other skilled workers, and migrants returning to their country of origin, for either a short term or permanently. For any particular country each of these types of diasporic mobility has the potential to make significant contributions to knowledge exchange and development. The chapter will focus on the two migrant settlement countries of Australia and New Zealand and their Indian migrant populations. For both countries, the Indian population is diverse in terms of language, religion and region of origin in India, and the linkages between these countries of settlement and the Indian homeland are also diverse. This chapter draws together a variety of data to illustrate these linkages and suggests potential outcomes for development in India. Sources of information include census data, immigration data, studies of Indian migrant populations in both Australia and New Zealand and media accounts. These will be analysed in the context of theoretical perspectives such as diaspora, brain circulation and knowledge exchange, as well as in the context of the evolving immigration policies of Australia and New Zealand.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Where statistical data are not referenced, these have derived from the author’s own analyses, often from customised data from Statistics New Zealand.

  2. 2.

    Note that even this higher number does not include some students since many international students undertake language and other courses on tourist or other visas.

  3. 3.

    Leaving New Zealand here is measured by ‘long-term absence’ at 31 December 2006.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Wardlow Friesen

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  1. Wardlow Friesen
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Correspondence to Wardlow Friesen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India

    Sadananda Sahoo

  2. Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, India

    B.K. Pattanaik

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Friesen, W. (2014). Diaspora, Brain Circulation and Indian Development. In: Sahoo, S., Pattanaik, B. (eds) Global Diasporas and Development. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-1047-4_8

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