Abstract
ABSTRACT This paper explores the contemporary relationship between international student migration and diaspora formation. It argues that international students have been largely absent from recent discussions of ‘knowledge diasporas’, where migrants’ ‘home’ states attempt to harness and co-opt the skills and knowledge of their émigrés. This is surprising, given students’ evident role in knowledge circulation and exchange. In this paper, we foreground the significance of international students but also explore their relationship to diaspora formation from a different angle. We argue that some states are increasingly engaging in (sometimes seemingly contradictory) policies designed to obstruct overseas diaspora formation, and these policies centre on their international student populations. Through a number of case studies and drawing on the secondary literature, we demonstrate the ways in which states are strategising to repatriate international students following their studies overseas. More broadly, we argue, this represents an alternative to popular notions of brain circulation and knowledge diasporas, chiming with a far more long-standing concern with ‘brain drain’.
Highlights
In this paper, we draw on secondary literature to uncover the complex ways in which recent international student migration/mobility intersects with diaspora formation
This paper explores the contemporary relationship between international student migration and diaspora formation
We argue that some states are increasingly engaging in policies designed to obstruct overseas diaspora formation, and these policies centre on their international student populations
Summary
We draw on secondary literature to uncover the complex ways in which recent international student migration/mobility intersects with diaspora formation. We see the Kazak state taking active steps to shape the nature of the diasporic student community in various parts of the world in ways that have not been evidenced with respect to other national groups (i.e. through the actions of local embassies and the use of peer influence) It seems that this is likely to be based on fears that student ties to the home nation will be weakened through overseas study (an interesting contrast to some of the assumptions made by the Russian state, discussed below); overseas locations have considerable allure for longer-term relocation; and considerable intervention is required to ensure that students’ national identity remains of most significance to them. This presents an interesting contrast to some of the cases above, in which states appear to assume that without their intervention, students’ original national identities will wane and they will be less likely to make a permanent return home
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
