Kalkınma Göstergelerinde Toplumsal Cinsiyet Eşitsizliği Ölçütü Olarak Toplumsal Cinsiyet Endeksleri: Bu Endeksler Eşitsizliği Ölçebilir mi?

Öz

Günümüzde giderek kullanımı genişleyen toplumsal cinsiyet endekslerinin, toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğine yönelik bilgi ve politika üretimini uluslararası ölçekte şekillendirmeleri, bunların nasıl bir bilgi ve politika ürettiğini, nasıl ölçümler yaptığını sorgulamayı önemli hale getirmektedir. Bu doğrultuda çalışmada şu sorulara cevap aranmaktadır: Toplumsal cinsiyet endeksleri, kavramsal ve kuramsal açıdan eşitsizliği ölçmek için yeterli ölçütler midir? Bu endekslerdeki gösterge ve değişkenler cinsiyet eşitsizliğini yansıtmaya uygun mudur? Çalışma bu sorgulamalara dayalı olarak, toplumsal cinsiyet endekslerinin uluslararası gündeme oturması ve yaygınlaşmasına öncülük eden Birleşmiş Milletler Kalkınma Programı’nın geliştirdiği endekslerin eleştirel bir incelemesinin ardından, bu endekslerinin yol açtığı tartışmalar sonucu geliştirilen toplumsal cinsiyet endekslerini ele almakta ve tüm bu endekslerin nasıl bir bilgi üretim sürecine dayandığının genel bir değerlendirmesini yapmaktadır. Bu incelemelere dayalı olarak çalışmanın argümanı ise, toplumsal cinsiyet endekslerinin, gösterge seçimi itibariyle toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliklerini kavramsal açıdan dar bir şekilde ele alan, anlamı daraltması itibariyle toplumsal cinsiyet politikaları üretimini olumsuz etkileyen, politika üretimini uzmanların ampirik ölçümlerine bağlı hale getirerek teknikleştiren ve dolayısıyla eşitsizliği yansıtmak açısından sorunlu ve yetersiz ölçütler olduğudur. Bu açıdan çalışmanın önemi, birbirleriyle diyalog halinde gelişen toplumsal cinsiyet endekslerinin eleştirel bir gözle değerlendirmesini yaparak, bunların cinsiyet eşitsizliklerini ölçme ve yansıtmaya yönelik yeterliliklerini sorgulamaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Toplumsal Cinsiyet Endeksleri
• Toplumsal Cinsiyet Eşitsizliği
• Göstergeler

Gender Equality Indices as a Measure of Gender Inequality in Development Indicators: Can These Indices Measure Inequality?

Abstract

The increasing use of gender indices today shapes the production of information and policies on gender inequality on an international scale. This makes it important to question how these indices produce information and policies, as well as how they measure gender inequality. In this regard, the study seeks to answer the following questions: Are gender indices sufficient criteria for measuring inequality from conceptual and theoretical perspectives? Are the indicators and variables in these indices appropriate for reflecting gender inequality? Based on these questions, the study critically examines the indices developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which pioneered the establishment and widespread use of gender indices on the international agenda. The study then examines the gender indices developed as a result of the debates sparked by the UNDP's indices and provides a general assessment of the knowledge production process underlying all of these indices. The study argues that gender indices are problematic and inadequate criteria for reflecting inequality because they conceptually address gender inequalities narrowly in terms of indicator selection. They also negatively affect the production of gender policies by narrowing their meaning and making policy production dependent on experts' empirical measurements. Thus, they are problematic and inadequate criteria for reflecting inequality. The importance of this study lies in its critical evaluation of gender indices that have developed in dialogue with one another, thereby questioning their adequacy in measuring and reflecting gender inequalities.

Keywords

• Gender Indices
• Gender Inequality
• Indicators

References

1. Adjei, S. B. (2015). Assessing woman empowerment in Africa: A citical review of the challenges of the gender empowerment measure of the UNDP. Psychology and Developing Societies, 27(1), 58-80.
2. Bardhan, K., & Klasen, S. (1999). UNDP’s gender-related indices: A critical review. World Development, 27(6), 985-1010.
3. Bardhan, K., & Klasen, S. (2000). On UNDP’s revisions to the gender-related development index. Journal of Human Development, 1(2), 191-195.
4. Beneria, L., & Permanyer, I. (2010). The measurement of socio-economic gender inequality revisited. Development and Change, 41(3), 375-399.
5. Bericat, E. (2012). The European gender equality index: Conceptual and analytical issues. Social Indicators Research, 108, 1-28.
6. Berik, G. (2022). Towards improved measures of gender inequality: An evaluation of the UNDP gender inequality index and a proposal. Discussion Papers, No.42, The UN Woman Discussion Papers Series.
7. Beteta, H. C. (2006). What is missing in measures of women's empowerment?. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 221-241.
8. Beetham, G., & Demetriades, J. (2007). Feminist research methodologies and development: Overview and practical application. Gender & Development, 15(2), 199-216.

9. Chant, S. (2006). Re‐thinking the “feminization of poverty” in relation to aggregate gender indices. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 201-220.
10. Charmes, J., & Wieringa S. (2003). Measuring women's empowerment: An assessment of the gender-related development index and the gender empowerment measure. Journal of Human Development: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal for People-Centered Development, 4(3), 419-435.
11. Dijkstra, A. G. (2002). Revisiting UNDP's GDI and GEM: Towards an alternative. Social Indicators Research, 57(3), 301-338.
12. Dijkstra, A. G. (2006). Towards a fresh start in measuring gender equality: A contribution to the debate. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 275-283.
13. Dijkstra, A.G., & Hanmer, L. (2000). Measuring socio-Economic gender inequality: Toward an alternative to the UNDP gender-related development index. Feminist Economics, 6(2), 41-75.
14. Folbre, N. (2006). Measuring care: Gender, empowerment, and the care economy. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 183-199.
15. Hawken, A., & Munck, G.L. (2013). Cross-national indices with gender-differentiated data: What do they measure? How valid are they?. Social Indicators Research, 111, 801-838.
16. Hirway, I., & Mahadevia, D. (1996). Critique of gender development index. Economic and Political Weekly, 87-96.
17. Kim, K. (1998). A critical review on measuring gender and human development. Journal of Rural Development, 21, 89-114.
18. Klasen, S. (2006). UNDP’s gender-related measures: Some conceptual problems and possible solutions. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 243-274.
19. Klasen, S. (2017). UNDP’s gender-related measures: Current problems and proposals for fixing them. Discussion Papers, No. 220, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Courant Research Centre.
20. Klasen, S., & Schüler, D. (2011). Reforming the gender-related development index and the gender empowerment measure: Implementing some specific proposals. Feminist Economics, 17(1), 1-30.
21. Kiriti, T., & Tisdell, C. (2003). Gender inequality, poverty and human development in Kenya: Main indicators, trends and limitations. Working Paper, No: 35, School of Economics, University of Queensland.
22. Merry, S.E. (2011). Indicators, human rights, and global governance. Current Anthropology, 52(3), 83-95.
23. Permanyer, I. (2008). On the measurement of gender equality and gender-related development levels. Journal of Human Development, 9(1), 87-108.
24. Permanyer, I. (2010). The measurement of multidimensional gender inequality: Continuing the debate. Social Indicators Research, 95(2), 181-198.
25. Permanyer, I. (2013). Are UNDP indices appropriate to capture gender inequalities in Europe?. Social Indicators Research, 110(3), 927-950.
26. Schmid, C.B. (2022). Neglecting reproductive labor: A critical review of gender equality indices. Social Politics, 29(3), 907-931.
27. Schüler, D. (2006). The uses and misuses of the gender-related development index and gender empowerment measure: A review of the literatüre. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 161-181.
28. Tisdell, C., Roy, K., & Ghose, A. (2001). A critical note on UNDP's gender inequality indices. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 31(3), 385-399.
29. UNDP (1995). Human development report.
30. UNDP (2010). Human development report.
31. van Staveren, I. (2013). To measure is to know? A comparative analysis of gender indices. Review of Social Economy, 71(3), 339-372.
32. Varkey, S., & Gupta S.S. (2005). How gender (in)sensitive are the gender related indices?. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 83(12), 954-956.
33. Verloo, M., & Van Der Vleuten, A. (2009). The discursive logic of ranking and benchmarking: Understanding gender equality measures in the European Union. E. Lombardo, P. Meier & M. Verloo (Eds.), The discursive politics of gender equality: Streching, bending and policymaking (169-186). Routledge.
34. Wieringa, S. (1994). Women’s interests and empowerment: Gender planning reconsidered. Development and Change, 25, 829-848.
35. Worsdale, R., & Wright, J. (2021). My objectivity is better than yours: Contextualising debates about gender inequality. Synthese, 199(1-2), 1659-1683.