In the women and development discourse, one general problem concerns the fact
that policy approaches lose their critical elements during their implementation. For
instance, the 'Equity Approach', the original and the most critical of all WID
approaches, was soon replaced by the milder 'Anti-Poverty Approach'. Subsequently,
the 'Anti-Poverty approach' was replaced by the 'Efficiency Approach' which reflected
the concerns of the neo-liberal agenda (see chapter 4). Similarly, the GAD lost most
of its critical features as it became popular (see chapter 5). The empowerment
approach has emerged out of the criticisms of the earlier approaches. However, it is
not immune against the same old obstacles faced by the earlier approaches. Its
increasing popularity seems to become a serious obstacle. Kabeer (1994: 129) writes
that "the sharpness of the perspectives that gave rise to [empowerment] has been
diluted" as it has become a buzzword in development jargon