Sandberg Model

The purpose of the Sandberg Model is to depict the cultural interrelationship of structural as well as processual conditions. The metaphor was designed by the cultural and communication scientist Jürgen Bolten, who uses it to illustrate his Fuzzy Cultures. With his model he tries to establish a description of culture that neither gets lost in overgeneralization (false homogeneity) nor in confusion, but adopts a structural-processual perspective.

Structure of the Sandberg Model

1st Can Layer:

The lowest bindingness and thus highest dynamics are attributed to novel conventions, which establish themselves only group- or context-specifically. Due to their diversity, they are usually found only temporarily and take the longest to become structurally anchored. Like drifting sand, they can be blown on and off at any time, and it is hard to tell which grain of sand will integrate into the existing mountain (e.g., Anglicisms, youth language, fashion trends).

2nd target layer:

The middle layer is formed by generally valid rules of conduct or group-specific traditions and rituals. Due to their strong conventionalization, they are structurally firmly anchored and hardly moveable. They can be compared to the change in form of the sandy surface, which can only be recognized through longer observation (e.g. carnival, Oktoberfest).

3rd must layer:

The foundation of a cultural group is formed by the laws, basic moral values and natural environmental conditions. They represent the core of a society and demand the highest level of commitment. Due to their long history of origin, they exhibit the lowest flexibility and are often accepted unreflectively as the „norm“. This makes them comparable to the soil of a sand mountain, on whose centuries-old layer of sand a dune has gradually grown up (e.g., the Basic Law).

Thus, the more social actions are structurally anchored, the longer they take to change. The metaphor is also referred to by Bolten as a fuzzy sand mountain, since the contours of the hill remain blurred due to the constant drifting sand (cf. Bolten 2014, 2 f.).

Literature

Bolten, Jürgen (2014): Fuzzy Sandberg – or: (How) can cultures be described? http://iwk-jena.uni-jena.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2014_Fuzzy_Sandberg.pdf [12.03.2020].

Bolten, Jürgen: Sandberg Model. Worksheet. http://ikkompetenz.thueringen.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/sandberg-modell-einleitung.pdf [12.03.2020].

IntercultureTV: The Sandberg Model. Explanatory video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEecRnyOeU8 [12.03.2020].