EVALUATING DIASPORA - BEYOND ETHNICITY

This paper evaluates the use of the concept of 'diaspora' as an altern ative way of thinking about transnational migration and ethnic relatio ns to those ways that rely on 'race' and 'ethnicity'. It examines the heuristic potential of the concept, as a descriptive typological tool and as a social condition and societal process. Both approaches are de scribed and key elements within each are assessed. It is argued that a lthough very different in emphasis, and though containing different st rengths and weaknesses, both approaches are problematised by their rel iance on a notion of deterritorialised ethnicity which references the primordial bonds of 'homeland'. It is also argued that both approaches are unable to attend fully to 'intersectionality', that is to issues of class, gender and trans-ethnic alliances. It is concluded that alth ough potentially enabling a broader sweep of questions that can relate to the transnational aspects of population movements and settlement, the concept of 'diaspora', as it has been articulated so far, does not overcome fully some of the problems identified with the 'ethnicity' p roblematic.