When Culture Promotes Justice, but Women Workers Face Challenges:A Case Study in Makassar, Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23917/indigenous.v11i2.17394Keywords:
gender inqeuality, Organizational justice, Bugis, Makassar, women workersAbstract
This research investigates how workplace gender inequality is perpetuated in Makassar through the integration of Bugis–Makassar cultural values within organizational frameworks. It looks into how moral concepts such as sipakatau (mutual respect), sipakainge (reminding each other), sipakalebbi (honoring others), and siri’ na pacce (dignity and empathy) are reinterpreted to reinforce gender hierarchies. Instead of serving as equalizing factors, these values are frequently utilized to promote women's obedience, resilience, and restraint, transforming moral virtues into tools that justify inequality. This study utilizes a multiple-case approach involving thirty-eight women from various sectors, including education, health, administration, and services in Makassar, Indonesia. Data was gathered through open-ended questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and unstructured observations, and were analyzed employing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The results indicate that cultural expressions are ingrained in managerial practices that prioritize compliance and symbolic acknowledgment over genuine equality. Institutional frameworks such as pangngaderreng have progressively become more discretionary, where rights are redefined as personal favors, and career progression is influenced by patron–client relationships and informal "chemistry" with leaders. The study illustrates that inequality manifests through normalized expectations of modesty, loyalty, and emotional labor, reinforced by microaggressions and moral scrutiny. Nonetheless, these cultural values possess a transformative potential if reinterpreted as collective and institutional responsibilities. Merging local ethical principles with gender equality initiatives presents a culturally relevant approach to promoting justice, where equality is perceived not as a challenge to culture but as its ethical fulfillment
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