Intergenerational Occupational Mobility of Workers in the Traditional Pottery Industries in Kottayam District, Kerala: A Critical Approach

Pottery is an age old handicraft in India. It is traced back to the earliest times of civilization. The pottery making traits was beginning back to the Neolithic era. During the times of Indus Valley Civilisation this effective art form was improved with the technology. The Harappan and Mohanjodara Cultures also improved this art with the technology of wheels. Since then these wheels are rolling out the finest pots under the expert hands of the Indian craftsmen. In recent years the globalisation of the markets and the technological revolution has brought the drastic and rapid changes in the relative importance of the individual sectors and occupations in the Indian economy. This means that more and more people will have to adapt a change of job or career during their working life. Hence most sociological attention is focused on intergenerational occupational mobility in explaining the patterns of occupational attainments on the basis of inter-cohort comparisons. This paper describes patterns of intergenerational occupational mobility of the workers in traditional pottery industries in Kerala and their long term trends of their mobilisation. It also presents the conceptual links between the individual mobility and developments of inequality along with their life course.