Indo-Caribbean Women in the Jane and Finch Community: Reimagining Social Reproduction Through the Diasporic Yard

This dissertation explores the ways in which critical consciousness is learned and developed in the working-class neighbourhood of Jane and Finch in Toronto, Canada, specifically for Indo-Caribbean women. The Jane and Finch area is often criminalized in mainstream representations, perceived as dangerous, and constructed as a space of Blackness and deviance in the public imaginary. The ongoing political action and organization of community members challenge these notions of violence, anti-Blackness, and degeneracy. This community is racially and ethnically diverse, a hub for immigrants from all over the world, with one of the largest groups coming from Guyana. My focus throughout this dissertation is on Indo-Caribbean (specifically Guyanese) women, many of whom are elders actively engaged in political organizing. I draw from the yard, a concept developed in the Caribbean, particularly in the context of urban working-class life in Jamaica, which speaks to those who would live in one dwelling with shared common spaces and extended practices of social reproduction. This dissertation mobilizes the idea of the diasporic yard—travelling to Toronto—as an informal infrastructure that enables Indo-Caribbean women to share spaces of support; learn from one another and the community; and become political actors in the public sphere. I detail how informal learning builds a pedagogy of activism that is particular to the Jane and Finch community because of the diasporic yard culture that exists in this space. The yard is understood here as a closely-knit working-class community where fictive kinship is formed. The Indo-Caribbean women in my study are engaged in lifelong learning that challenges hegemonic social relations and capitalist modes of production by organizing to develop meaningful support systems and state accountability for social welfare, instead of participating in lifelong learning as a means to become a more productive or skilled worker. I explore how sites of social organizing create spaces for dialogue and the exchange of ideas in the pursuit of justice. I draw on the Guyanese historian Walter Rodney’s concept of grounding to demonstrate how informal learning happens across kitchen tables, organizing meetings, and on the frontlines. I also examine how social reproduction and the diasporic yard space create opportunities for Indo-Caribbean women to dissent through creative processes such as art, street theatre, and rallies. This dissertation explores material collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation of organizations working toward social, political, economic, environmental, and reproductive justice.

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