Reconstructing Gender Empowerment

This paper challenges the dominant Eurocentric paradigm of gender empowerment and equal opportunity inherent in the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) used by the United Nations Development Program. The paper argues that the GEM is limited in its scope and value because of its capitalist and secular bias, and also because it is based on a notion of equal opportunity that does not adequately take into account gender diversity and its implications on empowerment. The paper proposes and outlines some features of an alternative context-specific, multilevel approach to gender empowerment to enhance the GEM's value in diverse socio-political contexts, particularly in societies where religion is a key influence on everyday life.