The influences of multi-level processes on the transnational mobilities of skilled migrants

Abstract

Skilled migration is initiated by both individuals’ pursuits and mobility regimes. It involves the strategies migrants use, and meanings they embed in the use of these strategies. Individuals and institutions are not merely subjects who are influenced by global forces of race for talent. By taking transnationalism on board, this paper argues that there are multi-level processes that shape and re-shape transnational mobilities in various scales and domains. It is not always the case of global forces which influence local actors, but the local economic, political and social practices of migrants that shape the ways they respond to global forces.