Reconceptualising the migration - Development Nexus: diasporas, globalisation and the politics of exclusion

The presence of a sizeable expatriate African population constitutes a potentially exploitable, if undeveloped, resource that represents a significant developmental challenge,for the continent. Problematically the global division of labour and power, as hell as differences of region, class, generation, ethnicity and race, are not properly recognised within the existing scholarship or development policy. What is clear is that diasporas do have a substantial role to play in development on the African continent. Further theoretical and empirical investigation is necessary to investigate the practical significance, nature cold content of diashoric identifications and activities. By setting these against the structural backdrop of the global economy and the closely associated ideology of globalisation, this paper seeks to provide a net-v basis for understanding the role of the diaspora in development. This has considerable policy implications as, to which diasporic populations should be targeted for developmental purposes.