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

Kaynakça

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