Changing Borders and Realities: Emigration of Indian Scientists and Engineers to the United States
International migration cannot be viewed as a byproduct of globalization since people have been migrating for centuries. However, globalization has given rise to a new kind of immigration, where a growing variety of interconnected social activities are taking place among technical immigrants at a high speed irrespective of their geographical location. The advent of instant online communication and the ability to share discoveries, inventions, advances, documents, and pictures in real time, as well as safe, easy, and fast travel options have made the traditional notions of borders, immigration, and even assimilation obsolete. This paper looks at how the tenets of immigration under globalization seem to be becoming outmoded as scientific knowledge flows between India and the U.S. It is based on the review of literature on the subject and in-depth interviews conducted in 2002-2004 with 120 Indian scientists and engineers from both countries.