Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part H (2025)

This paper is a comparative analysis of occupational engagements and intragenerational occupational mobility of Gond and Korku women living in the Betul district, Madhya Pradesh, and the way that tribal identity, gender, ecology and institutional accessibility determine the economic position of Adivasi women. Based on field data obtained through interviews, pivot tables, and thematic observations, analyses of the distribution of women's economic engagements are made in agriculture, marginal labour, forest produce collection. and livestock. The research discovers that occupational diversification and mobility is stronger among Gond women (owing to their landownership, improved educational access and higher participation in schemes) than among the Korku women and that the latter continue to be more dependent on the forests for their livelihoods; a dependency that is reflected in ecological proximity and minimal institutional contact with their forest environment.
The paper discusses how vertical educational mobility, particularly among younger women of both the communities, does not necessarily translate into economic empowerment, owing to the structural limitations. Using feminist political economy and intersectionality, in dialogue with tribal scholarship, the study argues for an intersectional and grounded approach towards tribal women’s labour that challenges current homogeneous developmental models. It underscores the necessity for grounded interventions that center tribal women’s lived realities, land access, and autonomy.