Ikatanikatan

Ikatanikatan is a theoretical construct in sociolinguistics and social theory that refers to layered systems of social bonding within a community. It describes how ties at multiple levels—family, neighborhood, workplace, and online groups—interlock to produce cohesion and resilience. The term is formed from the Indonesian ikatan, meaning bond, with reduplication to signal repetition and nesting.

Within this framework, strong ties at one level can reinforce weaker ties at another, while weak ties can broaden a network's reach. The concept emphasizes multiplicity and redundancy of connections, rather than a single dominant bond. It is sometimes contrasted with the broader notion of social capital, focusing on the qualitative structure of ties rather than their economic returns.

Ikatanikatan has been used in analyses of urban communities, disaster response networks, and digital communities where both offline and online ties contribute to collective action. Critics note that the term overlaps with established ideas and may blur distinctions between bonding and bridging social capital, necessitating clear operational definitions in empirical work.

Because it has limited formal citation in major journals, ikatanikatan remains primarily a theoretical lens or a descriptive heuristic rather than a universally adopted framework.

See also: social capital; bonding capital; bridging capital; social network theory; kinship.