Many of the most skilled and educated citizens of developing countries choose to emigrate. How may those societies respond to these facts? May they ever legitimately prevent the emigration of their citizens? Gillian Brock and Michael Blake debate these questions, and offer distinct arguments about the morality of emigration.

Introduction ; Part I ; By Gillian Brock ; 1. Introduction to Part I ; 2. What Does Global Justice Require? ; 3. Prosperity in Developing Countries, the Effects Departing Individuals Have on Those Left Behind, and Some Policy Options ; 4. Whose Responsibility is it to Remedy Losses Caused by the Departure of Skilled Migrants? ; 5. Consideration of Central Anticipated Objections ; 6. Summary of Conclusions from Part I ; Part II ; By Michael Blake ; 7. The Right to Leave: Looking Back ; 8. The Right to Leave: Looking Forward ; 9. The Right to Leave and What Remains ; Part III ; Responses by Gillian Brock and Michael Blake ; 10. Brock Responds to Blake ; 11. Blake Responds to Brock ; Index

"This book contributes to one of the central questions of our time, and deserves to be read by a wide audience." Gabriele Vogt, University of Hamburg "The authors provide an interesting set of arguments for their positions and responses to each other's critiques in a very readable format...Recommended." --Choice "...this volume is overall a lively and challenging work that has much to teach most any reader. It will be particularly valuable in courses on political philosophy, where it will spur difficult debate while enabling the instructor to pick up the threads and use them to explain many of the most important issues in the field. For that reason this volume is particularly highly recommended." --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online "...an important book. Both authors take seriously the dangers that unfettered individualism in migration may bring. The book presents a nuanced counterweight to arguments for open borders that are simply based on individual gains, and which neglect the social consequences that can derive from such migration." -- Developing World Bioethics "Debating Brain Drain does an excellent job at raising some of the key issues that are essential to understanding the nature of brain drain, the normative challenges it poses, and what sorts of strategies can be legitimately deployed to defend against its supposed harms. Both thinkers offer compelling and sophisticated arguments to justify their respective positions. The back-and-forth between Brock and Blake is extraordinarily helpful for readers attempting to understand the nuanced views that both theorists offer." -- Contemporary Political Theory "a welcome addition to the literature on justice in global migration...Debating Brain Drain is a highly engaging book. Brock and Blake deserve praise for the seriousness and sensitivity with which they approach the controversial and underexplored topic of restrictions on emigration. In virtue not only of this but also its provocative arguments, Debating Brain Drain ought to be regarded as an important contribution to the development of a new direction in the study of the normative dimensions of global migration." -- Ethics "an interesting exploration of an issue that falls in the intersection of social philosophy, political philosophy, and applied ethics. The issue is whether it is ever justifiable to restrict emigration from a country, especially of the highly educated. Gillian Brock and Michael Blake have written a well-balanced book on the subject, with both sides getting a fair exposition...Brock and Blake have given us a wealth of pertinent arguments to consider. They are to be commended for their valuable work." -- Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review "Gillian Brock and Michael Blake offer a rich, nuanced, thoughtful, and compelling debate regarding whether it is permissible, just, and wise for developing countries to enact restrictions on the right of skilled workers to emigrate" -- Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations "Debating Brain Drain is an excellent book and I have learned much from both Gillian Brock and Michael Blake's contributions." -- Journal of Medical Ethics

Selling point: Excellent resource for those hoping to understand the many normative issues raised by considering ethical questions associated with emigration Selling point: One of the first monograph-length studies of the morality of emigration by two political philosophers Selling point: Provides comprehensive and accessible treatment of the normative issues associated with various policy options meant to address the problems that arise out of critical shortages of skilled personnel Selling point: Helps map areas of convergence and disagreement in a sophisticated debate, while also indicating some areas for fruitful further research

Gillian Brock is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. Her recent and current research focuses on global justice and related fields. Her most recent works with Oxford University Press include Global Justice: A Cosmopolitan Account (2009) and Cosmopolitanism versus Non-Cosmopolitanism (2013). Michael Blake is Professor of Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of Washington. He writes about international distributive justice and the ethics of immigration. He is the author of Justice and Foreign Policy (OUP, 2013).

Selling point: Excellent resource for those hoping to understand the many normative issues raised by considering ethical questions associated with emigration Selling point: One of the first monograph-length studies of the morality of emigration by two political philosophers Selling point: Provides comprehensive and accessible treatment of the normative issues associated with various policy options meant to address the problems that arise out of critical shortages of skilled personnel Selling point: Helps map areas of convergence and disagreement in a sophisticated debate, while also indicating some areas for fruitful further research