Academic Cooperation between Africa, Asia and Latin America: The Place of diasporas

Abstract

Interest has grown in the role of diaspora in advancing higher education and scientific research as academic mobility continues to  generate more transnational communities a with high educational profile. The academic literature is picking up on how diasporas and  their organisations facilitate academic and research collaboration between institutions in their ‘host’ and ‘home’ countries. However, this  discourse largely focuses on those residing in industrialised countries, particularly Europe and North America. There is limited  research on the diasporic relationship between and within regions in the Global South, and even less on diasporamediated academic  collaboration between Africa, Asia and Latin America. Against this backdrop, this article explores the role of diaspora in academic and  scientific collaboration within and between these regions. It highlights some historical and contemporary migratory relations between them, along with student mobility as a means of formation of academic diaspora. The article argues that, among other things, the limited  academic collaboration between countries of the Global South can be attributed to structural issues such as inequality in the  geopolitics of knowledge and the characteristics of migrant communities. It also suggests possible future scenarios including trends in  migration and the potential to foster scientific collaboration.