Beyond the Nation as Unit: A Nusantara Communication Architecture for Indonesia’s Multi-Ethnic Society

Intercultural communication scholarship has examined Indonesian communicative life through Western theoretical frameworks, using Indonesia to test or illustrate models rather than generate new ones. This article addresses that imbalance by proposing the Nusantara Communication Architecture (NCA), a theory-building framework for indigenous communication in Indonesia’s multi-ethnic society. Using a narrative literature review with explicit search and inclusion criteria and consideration of contradictory evidence, the study synthesizes intercultural communication theories with ethnographic and linguistic research on Javanese, Sundanese, Minangkabau, Bugis, Balinese, Batak, Malay, Dayak, Banjar, Madurese, and Papuan communities, alongside non-Western scholarship. The synthesis identifies relational harmony as an organizing orientation expressed through four interacting dimensions: collective deliberation, structural politeness, expressive variation, and a shared normative repertoire for interethnic contact. These dimensions are formalized into a multilevel architecture and six propositions. The article specifies scope and boundary conditions and contributes a theory-building synthesis positioning Indonesia as a source of intercultural communication theory. The framework remains conceptual and requires empirical testing.