Fuite des cerveaux, retours et diasporas

Brain Drain, Return and Diasporas
Developing countries have been complaining for a long time about a brain drain to countries of the North. Their scientific elites are attracted by better opportunity, so their young people go North in search of education.
Jacques & Anne-Marie Gaillard point out, however, that the perception of this phenomenon has evolved. Many authors are now aware that these expatriates have the potential of forming diasporas which can be mobilized for the benefit of their countries of origin. They also make the point that the benefit of such diasporas is conditional on the welcome that the elites receive in their home countries when they return. Some of these countries, especially those which are experiencing rapid development, have been able to mobilize their researchers abroad, and even incite them to come back. Others, however, are still suffering from an emigration caused by economic, political and scientific factors.
This text demonstrates the ambiguity of a complex phenomenon which has led to contradictory analyses. It has the advantage of showing how, under some circumstances, a handicap can be transformed into an opportunity.