Intercultural Communication Among Togale Women in South Halmahera: Adaptation, Resistance, and Identity Negotiation
Keywords:
intercultural communication, Togale women, identity negotiation, gender construction, ethnography of communicationAbstract
This article reorganizes and strengthens the analysis of intercultural communication among Togale women in South Halmahera. The term Togale refers to a relational social category connecting Tobelo and Galela communities. It does not name a homogeneous ethnic block. The study examines how women negotiate gendered authority through adat, religion, kinship, livelihood, education, and post-conflict memory. The revised argument uses communication ethnography with a critical-postcolonial orientation. It also strengthens the discussion with recent literature on gender norms, women's empowerment, intercultural identity negotiation, indigenous relationality, religious communication, and peacebuilding. Field data came from interviews, participant observation, and documentation conducted in 2025. The analysis follows reflexive thematic analysis and uses Hymes's Speaking model, high-context communication, face negotiation theory, and communication accommodation theory. The findings show that Tobelo and Galela women share relational agency, but they use different symbolic resources. Tobelo women's public authority often grows through education, health work, church-related service, and family mediation. Galela women's public authority often grows through Islamic moral discourse, taklim participation, modesty norms, garden economy, and everyday da'wah. Adat practices such as salay, bobangu, sa'ali, and o dailako protect women's dignity while also regulating speech, mobility, and bodily conduct. The article develops the concept of indigenous gender negotiation to describe culturally grounded agency that works through tradition, religion, and relational ethics rather than outside them. This concept contributes to intercultural communication and multicultural da'wah studies by showing how women sustain moral identity, social coexistence, and practical authority in a post-conflict Muslim-Christian setting.
References
Abu, A. H. (2024). Interview with participant P01.
Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations. Gender & Society, 4(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124390004002002
Al Qurtuby, S. (2014). Religious women for peace and reconciliation in contemporary Indonesia. International Journal on World Peace, 31(1), 27–58.
Al Qurtuby, S. (2016). Religious violence and conciliation in Indonesia: Christians and Muslims in the Moluccas. Routledge.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Can I use TA? Should I use TA? Should I not use TA? Comparing reflexive thematic analysis and other pattern-based qualitative analytic approaches. Counseling and Psychotherapy Research, 21(1), 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12360
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.
Cislaghi, B., & Heise, L. (2020). Gender norms and social norms: Differences, similarities, and why they matter in prevention science. Sociology of Health & Illness, 42(2), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13008
Cornwall, A. (2016). Women’s empowerment: What works? Journal of International Development, 28(3), 342–359. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3210
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE.
Dodgson, J. E. (2019). Reflexivity in qualitative research. Journal of Human Lactation, 35(2), 220–222. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890334419830990
Giles, H. (2016). Communication accommodation theory: Negotiating personal relationships and social identities across contexts. Cambridge University Press.
Gudykunst, W. B., & Kim, Y. Y. (2003). Communicating with strangers: An approach to intercultural communication (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Gulingan, A. (2025). Interview with participant P04.
Hall, E. T. (1976). Beyond culture. Anchor Press.
Hartoyo, H., Sudrajat, S., Sutrisno, S., & Ma’arif, S. (2020). The role of local communities in peacebuilding in post-ethnic conflict in a multi-cultural society. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research, 12(1), 33–44. https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-06-2019-0419
Hymes, D. (1974). Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Ilaihi, W. (2010). Komunikasi dakwah. PT Remaja Rosdakarya.
Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements: Reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125
Kasuba, G. (2025). Interview with participant P05.
Kiger, M. E., & Varpio, L. (2020). Thematic analysis of qualitative data: AMEE Guide No. 131. Medical Teacher, 42(8), 846–854. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2020.1755030
Korstjens, I., & Moser, A. (2018). Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 4: Trustworthiness and publishing. European Journal of General Practice, 24(1), 120–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/13814788.2017.1375092
Levitt, H. M., Bamberg, M., Creswell, J. W., Frost, D. M., Josselson, R., & Suárez-Orozco, C. (2018). Journal article reporting standards for qualitative primary, qualitative meta-analytic, and mixed methods research in psychology: The APA Publications and Communications Board task force report. American Psychologist, 73(1), 26–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000151
Mahmood, S. (2001). Feminist theory, embodiment, and the docile agent: Some reflections on the Egyptian Islamic revival. Cultural Anthropology, 16(2), 202–236. https://doi.org/10.1525/can.2001.16.2.202
Matoro, Z. S. (2025). Interview with participant P10.
Munir, M., & Ilaihi, W. (2006). Manajemen dakwah. Kencana.
Nowell, L. S., Norris, J. M., White, D. E., & Moules, N. J. (2017). Thematic analysis: Striving to meet the trustworthiness criteria. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917733847
Pearse, R., & Connell, R. (2016). Gender norms and the economy: Insights from social research. Feminist Economics, 22(1), 30–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2015.1078485
Platenkamp, J. D. M. (1984). The Tobelo of Eastern Halmahera in the context of anthropology. In Unity in diversity: Indonesia as a field of anthropological study (pp. 167–189). Foris.
Platenkamp, J. D. M. (1990). The severance of the origin: A ritual of the Tobelo of North Halmahera. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, 146(1), 74–92. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-90003228
Rauf, R. (2025). Interview with participant P07.
Regency, B.-S. of H. S. (2025a). Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan dalam angka 2025. BPS-Statistics of Halmahera Selatan Regency. https://halmaheraselatankab.bps.go.id/
Regency, B.-S. of H. S. (2025b). Statistik kesejahteraan rakyat Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan 2025. BPS-Statistics of Halmahera Selatan Regency. https://halmaheraselatankab.bps.go.id/
Ridgeway, C. L. (2009). Framed before we know it: How gender shapes social relations. Gender & Society, 23(2), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243208330313
Ridgeway, C. L., & Correll, S. J. (2004). Unpacking the gender system: A theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gender & Society, 18(4), 510–531. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243204265269
Sabban, I., & Mahmud, N. (2022). Women’s education in border areas from the socio-cultural perspective of the Galela tribe. Journal of Education, Humaniora and Social Sciences, 4(3), 1371–1379. https://doi.org/10.34007/jehss.v4i3.851
Sibula, N. (2025). Interview with participant P08.
Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313). University of Illinois Press.
Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Ting-Toomey, S. (2017). Facework and face negotiation theory. In The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication (pp. 1–5). Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783665.ieicc0105
Wilson, C. (2008). Ethno-religious violence in Indonesia: From soil to God. Routledge.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Makbul A.H Din, Burhan, Syaifuddin, Jonatan Lassa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The author(s) retain/s the copyright and grant/s Muharrik: Jurnal Dakwah dan Sosial the first publication rights licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) , which allows others to access (search, read, download and quote), share (copy and redistribute the material in any media or format) and adapt (mix, modify and develop) works for legitimate non-commercial purposes, with recognition of the authorship of the work and its initial publication in this journal.
