Reversing the brain drain: evidence from a Romanian brain networking organization
| Published date | 01 October 2016 |
| Date | 01 October 2016 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12268 |
Reversing the brain drain: evidence from a
Romanian brain networking organization
Alisa Petroff*
INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, classical academic debates on skilled migration have analysed this phenomenon from
the brain drain perspective, highlighting its negative effects on the countries of origin (Meyer,
2003). In response to the globalization of human capital (Khadria, 2001), new approaches devel-
oped broader analytical tools to capture the impact of these mobility patterns. A concept like the
“paradigm of mobility”is a good example. It questions sedentarist theories that have established
stability, meaning, and place as normal attributes while distance, change, and placelessness has
been conceived as abnormal (Hannam, Sheller and Urry, 2006). On the other hand, it claims to
overcome “the imagery of ‘terrains’as spatially fixed geographical containers for social processes,
and calling into question scalar logics such as local/global as descriptors of regional extent”
(Sheller and Urry, 2006:4). From this perspective, in a globalized world where highly skilled
migration has increased, brain circulation describes the movement of skilled migrants as polycen-
tric, circular, temporary and based on an exchange between countries (Ackers, 2005; Balaz et al.,
2004; Lucas Hewitt, 2006; Patterson, 2005).
Taking into account the set of criticisms received by the theory of brain circulation regarding the
complexity of the physical return of skilled migrants, this article discusses the relevance of the
brain networking perspective (Ciumasu, 2007) as a political and academic tool that enables a better
understanding of the phenomenon of contemporary skilled migration. Based on the analysis of a
Romanian brain networking organization, I argue the need to understand these organizations not as
elitist professional groups (as they have traditionally been seen) but as organizations that include a
diversity of profiles: potentially skilled migrants (international students) or “migrants in the middle”
(Conradson and Latham, 2005) who occupy semi-skilled jobs in origin and destination countries.
These migrants can contribute greatly to creating economic and symbolic transnational spaces, lead-
ing to a win-win situation, especially in the case of circular migration patterns (intra-EU move-
ments) that correspond to two of the three clusters identified by the case study.
The article aims to analyse the case study of a Romanian brain network organization, GRASP
(Global Romanian Society of Young Professionals), and the main characteristics of its members.
Based on a quantitative approach, the analysis identifies different historical stages of skilled immi-
gration proceeding from this country (comparing the early 1990s with the 2000s) and different pro-
files of professionals (permanent migration versus mobility patterns).
The emergence of new democracies, after the collapse in 1989 of totalitarian regimes in Central
and Eastern Europe, led to unprecedented migration movements between Eastern and Western coun-
tries (Sandu, 2007; Marcu, 2007). Regarding the Romanian case, during the 1990s, two were the
* Universidad Aut
onoma de Barcelona, Spain
doi: 10.1111/imig.12268
©2016 The Author
International Migration ©2016 IOM
International Migration Vol. 54 (5) 2016
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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