The actual
movement of individuals, who have already
adopted the
idea or
innovation, who carry it to a new locale, where they proceed to disseminate it.
Religion frequently spreads this way. For example, the migration of
Christianity with
European settlers who came to
America.
There are two types of relocation
diffusion:
Transculturation - a form of acculturation in which the exchange of
culture is equal, both cultures function as
sources and adopters. The
dominant culture contributes certain qualities to the smaller or
weaker
culture and also can adopt certain aspects of the weaker culture.
For example, when the Spanish overthrew the
Aztec kingdom, Spanish culture prevailed in religion and the introduction of new crops. Aztec influences
were absorbed into the Spanish culture also by means of Aztec motif in the
architecture and
clothing. Plus, Aztec crops were also brought back to Spain.
Migrant Diffusion - an innovation
originates somewhere and is adopted briefly, but by the time is has
diffused to other areas it has already lost its strength in the area in which it originated. Thus, there is no stable
core area.
An example is
influenza which might
originate in
China but by the time it reaches
North America and
Europe it has already faded away in China.