This thesis investigates the Jamaican diaspora in the United Kingdom (UK) as a prominent transnational actor in global politics that shift types and forms of political participation beyond the geographic boundaries of the state.

This paper is interested in the ways in which the everyday experiences of Jamaican Canadians function as accumulated moments that mark their collective journeys across time and place, and reveal the complexity of their dual relationship between Jamaica and Canada. Specifically, the paper uses five uniquely Canadian episodes or incidents, occurring in each of the five decades between 1970 and 2012 (the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence from Britain) to examine how Jamaican Canadians claim the right to not just legal, but also social citizenship.