masyarakat

Masyarakat is a Malay- Indonesian word that means "society" or "community." It refers to the aggregate of people who share a common social life, culture, or geographic area, as well as the institutions, norms, and relationships that bind them. In everyday language, it can denote a national, regional, or local community, or a particular social group within a larger population. The term is commonly used in sociology, anthropology, and political discourse to discuss how people organize themselves, how social roles are distributed, and how values and practices are transmitted across generations.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, masyarakat is often paired with modifiers to describe forms of social organization. For example, masyarakat adat refers to indigenous customary communities with traditional laws and rights to land and resources; masyarakat urban describes city-based populations with diverse and dynamic social relations; and the idea of masyarakat madani or civil society is used to refer to non-state actors and institutions—such as NGOs, professional associations, and community organizations—that participate in public life.

The concept emphasizes the relational and constructed nature of social life: identity, belonging, and social cohesion emerge from interactions, norms, and institutions. Discussions of masyarakat frequently address issues such as social harmony, inclusion, inequality, and the capacity of communities to respond to economic and political change. The term is versatile and can apply to macro-scale national cultures as well as micro-scale local communities.