Metka Hercog and my book chapter “Diaspora Engagement Policies and the Power of the Strong State: India and Ethiopia” is now available in this edited collection.
Here is an abstract of our Chapter:
Migrant-sending countries are increasingly exploring schemes where the
human capital of expatriates can be used for the benefit of the home country’s
socioeconomic development. This paper focuses on the mechanisms of emigration
management and problematizes government involvement in diaspora engagement.
By exploring two cases of diaspora engagement policies, those of India and of
Ethiopia, the paper questions the success of government mechanisms, establishing
the conditions under which these mechanisms lead to political and economic benefit
from the diaspora. Although countries differ immensely in various aspects, Ethiopia
modelled its diaspora policy after the case of India, which provides us with a good
case for establishing the necessary conditions. Both countries see diaspora as a key
resource in economic development of respective countries and have therefore
invested significant resources into developing institutions and policies to engage
diaspora. Nevertheless, there are some major differences between the countries, in
terms of the countries’ resources and capacities to design and implement diaspora
engagement policies and also in the composition of migrant communities. While
Indian migration has always had an economic component, the Ethiopian Diaspora is
primarily characterized by refugee flows. Moreover, India has a long history of
migration and one of the largest migrant communities in the world. The paper argues
that government resources and capacities to design and implement policies and the
composition of migrant communities play a key role in determining the approach
governments adopt with their diasporas.