ABSTRACT
The beginning of the twenty-first century witnessed a profusion of new thinking in gender studies across the social sciences. The philosophical and political conceptualisations of gender equality have been substantially reworked to take into account new social agendas around multiculturalism and diversity while new notions of citizenship and nationhood have required a reconsideration of how to position women in modern society (Benhabib 2002; Yuval Davis 2001). This re-engagement with the theoretical foundations of gender research within the world of academia occurs at a time when gender concerns (particularly around women’s empowerment through economic progress and development) have been placed on international agendas (Nussbaum 2000; Sen 2004). The emergence of global equality agendas provides a unique opportunity to bring together the diverse understandings emerging from the different trajectories taken by Western and non-Western traditions of gender research. The possibility of such a confluence has potentially profound implications for an analysis of gender education since, up until now, there has been relatively little interaction between Western and non-Western research.
