This paper evaluates the use of the concept of ‘diaspora’ as an alternative way of thinking about transnational migration and ethnic relations 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 described and key elements within each are assessed. It is argued that although very different in emphasis, and though containing different strengths and weaknesses, both approaches are problematised by their reliance 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 although 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’ problematic.