MECHENISM OF CHANGE

Innovation
Invention and Innovation are two different things.

An invention, in anthropological terms, is the creation or discovery of

something that is completely new. For example, in prehistoric times, people
invented the atlatl, or spear-thrower. This new device gave them more leverage
and allowed them to throw spears much farther. Since it had not existed before, it
was an invention (sometimes called a primary innovation).
An innovation, by comparison, occurs when an existing idea or object is taken
and modified for a new use, practice and tool. For example, let us imagine that a
society has invented the wheel and axle and has been using them for carts to carry
farm products to market. If the society then thinks to use the wheel and axle for a
war chariot, it is an innovation because the society has taken an existing idea and
used it in a novel way.

Other individuals adopt the innovation, and it becomes socially shared.

Primary innovations are chance discoveries of new principles.
Secondary innovations are improvements made by applying known principles.

TYPES:
Deliberate
Unintentional
Although intentional inventors usually receive the most recognition and praise,
over the long run, unintentional inventors have probably had the greatest impact on
cultural change. Consider for example the common phrase, `necessity is the mother
of all invention', which implies that often circumstances are a more compelling
factor inducing innovations in society than the declared intention to make
something new.

Diffusion
Borrowing and spread of ideas/ traits between two cultures of society in
contact
In really simple terms, it's what happens when one society comes into contact with
another society and ends up adopting some of the culture of that society as their
own.
Cultural items, involving material aspects, are more likely candidates for diffusion
than those involving non-material aspects. Diffusion is affected by a number of
important variables (duration and intensity of contact, degree of cultural integration
and similarities between donor and recipient cultures)

For example, paper-making is believed to have started with the Chinese. It

was then borrowed by the Arabs who, in turn, transmitted it to Europe. These
cultures changed as paper came into use, but neither the Arabs nor the
Europeans actually invented paper.

While the form of a trait may be transmitted or Adapted to another society, the
original meaning may not.
 For instance, when McDonald's first brought their American style hamburgers
to Moscow and Beijing, they were accepted as luxury foods for special
occasions because they were relatively expensive and exotic. In America, of
course, they have a very different meaning--they are ordinary every day fast
food items.

TYPES:
Direct diffusion. As the name implies, this occurs when societies come in
direct contact with one another. Again using the example of my silk shirt,
direct diffusion occurred when my European ancestors came across China's
famous Silk Route.
Indirect diffusion. Occurs when the culture of one society is transmitted to
a second society, then through the second society to other societies.

Culture loss
Abandonment of an existing practice or trait.
It is an inevitable result of old cultural patterns being replaced by new ones.
As cultures change and acquire new traits, old no longer useful or popular ones
inevitably disappear. An example of culture loss is the disappearance over time of
certain words and phrases in a language. In some cases, the words continue to be
used but acquire new, very different meanings.
For instance, not many Americans today know how to care for a horse. A
century ago, this was common knowledge, except in a few large urban
centers. Since then, vehicles with internal combustion engines have replaced
horses as our primary means of transportation and horse care knowledge lost
its importance. As a result, children are rarely taught these skills. Instead,
they are trained in the use of the new technologies of automobiles,
televisions, stereos, cellular phones, computers, and iPods.
In Middle East, chariots and carts widely used before 6th century. Disappear
and are replaced by camels

FORCIBLE CHANGE

Acculturation
A process by which a culture is transformed due to the massive adoption of
cultural traits from another society. --The processes of change in artefacts,
customs, and beliefs that result from the contact of two or more cultures. It is what
happens to a culture when alien traits diffuse in on a large scale and substantially
replace traditional cultural patterns.

Major TYPES:
1. Incorporation
People retain their original cultural features while borrowing or
adapting to the new culture. Though the two groups exchange cultural
features, the groups remain distinct. Though the term, acculturation is
 generally used to describe minority groups and immigrants, this process also
takes place in major cultural groups as well.

Acculturation is a direct change of one's culture through dominance over

another's culture through either military or political conquest.
Group level -- acculturation often results in changes to culture, customs, and
social institutions.
Noticeable group level -- effects of acculturation often include changes in
food, clothing, and language.
Individual level -- differences in the way individuals acculturate have been
shown to be associated not just with changes in daily behavior, but with
numerous measures of psychological and physical well-being.

2. Directed Change
In contrast, directed change occurs when one group establishes
dominance over another through military conquest or political control.

Thus, imperialism is the most common precursor to directed change.

Like incorporation, directed change involves the selection and modification of
cultural characteristics. However, these processes are more varied and the
results more complex because they derive from the interference in one
cultural system by members of another.

The processes that operate under conditions of directed change include

Forced assimilationthe complete replacement of one culture by

another
Resistance against aspects of the dominant culture.

Because directed change is imposed upon the members of the recipient

culture, often quite harshly, the changes it engenders are less likely to be
maintained over the long term.

REFERENCE
http://www.csun.edu/~vcant007/Anth152/Lecture%20Notes/Ch15%20CULTURAL%20CHANGE2.htm
https://www.britannica.com/topic/acculturation
http://anthro.palomar.edu/change/glossary.htm