Emi Tipuk Lestari, Tri Marhaeni Pudji Astuti, Agustinus Sugeng Priyanto, Thomy Sastra Atmaja
This article examines interethnic social relations among Dayak, Chinese, Malay, and Madurese communities in North Pontianak, West Kalimantan. Situated in a province often discussed through the vocabulary of ethnic conflict, migration, and post-conflict anxiety, this study shifts attention from violence to the everyday practices through which pluralistic communities maintain coexistence. Using a qualitative descriptive and phenomenological approach, the study draws on observations, interviews, documentation, and local institutional data. The findings suggest that social integration in North Pontianak is generated through associative relationships embedded in everyday life: daily contact, reciprocal visits, cooperation among neighbors, shared cultural repertoires, linguistic accommodation, and local mediation. Religious festivals, open house events, Malay as a lingua franca, ngopi (coffee), saprahan, kemponan, tepung tawar, and interethnic mutual assistance serve as practical infrastructures of coexistence. This study argues that ethnic boundaries do not simply disappear in pluralistic societies; rather, these boundaries are softened, crossed, and negotiated through repeated acts of hospitality, accommodation, and cultural borrowing. By highlighting everyday practices rather than spectacular conflicts, this article contributes to the anthropology of Asia by showing how social integration is continually shaped and reshaped in everyday interethnic encounters. © 2026 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Master’s Program in Social Studies Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, PGRI Yogyakarta University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Department of Social Studies Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Political Science, Semarang State University, Semarang, Indonesia; Department of Pancasila and Civic Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Tanjungpura University, Pontianak, Indonesia
