Skilled migration in the service of imperial innovation

Skilled migration is a phenomenon that has gained increasing prominence on the international agenda, not only because it represents the most dynamic segment of contemporary international migration, but also because it heralds a new cycle in North-South or centre-periphery relations. It is a phenomenon closely linked to the new dynamics of the development of productive forces and, more specifically, to the way in which innovation ecosystems have been restructured today, taking Silicon Valley as a reference point. This has entailed a growing participation of highly-skilled workers from peripheral and emerging countries. This phenomenon is also linked to the new international division of labour within manufacturing between knowledge-intensive activities, which are reserved for the imperialist countries, and labour-intensive activities, which have been transferred to the periphery.