Redefining Empowerment Grassroots Understanding of Women Empowerment in the Context of Brunei Darussalam

Each year MA students in the Institute for Creative Futures (ICF) undertake original research for their dissertations, covering a wide range of topics and geographies. The ICF Graduate Papers publishes some the outstanding research undertaken by student researchers in the Institute.

This grounded theory study seeks to redefine empowerment by exploring contemporary Bruneian women’s conception of empowerment within Brunei’s unique socio-cultural and religious landscape. Despite Bruneian women’s significant advancements in education, professional and economic domains, women are still expected to conform to cultural, societal, and religious expectations of gender roles. Hence, gender inequalities persist erecting barriers to women’s empowerment. This grounded theory study employed a qualitative approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with eleven Bruneian women. This study demonstrates that contemporary Bruneian women’s conceptualization of empowerment encompasses a multifaceted interplay of access to education and opportunities, personal agency, expanding capabilities, participation and inclusion, critical consciousness, and challenging traditional gender roles. The cultural and religious values inherent within Brunei’s national philosophy Melayu Islam Beraja (MIB), or Malay Islam Monarch, also played a crucial role in shaping women’s conception of empowerment within Brunei’s context. These findings illustrate a nuanced understanding of empowerment in Brunei, highlighting the intricate nature of women’s lived experiences, and provide valuable insight into the barriers and opportunities to Bruneian women’s pursuit of empowerment within a complex socio-cultural landscape.