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Labadie, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)Labadie, Jean de, or Jean de la Badie both: zhäN də lä bädēˈ [key], 1610–74, French mystic, founder of the Labadists, a quietist sect. He had been a Roman Catholic priest, but c.1650 he embrac...

Mauroy, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Mauroy, Pierre pyĕr môrwäˈ [key], 1928–2013, French politician. Educated at the École National d'Apprentissage de Cachan, he was a teacher and an active member of the new Socialist party from t...

social work

(Encyclopedia)social work, organized effort to help individuals and families to adjust themselves to the community, as well as to adapt the community to the needs of such persons and families. Social work emerge...

Kent, county, England

(Encyclopedia)Kent, county (1991 pop. 1,485,600), 1,525 sq mi (3,950 sq km), SE England. It lies between the Thames estuary and the Strait of Dover. The county town is Maidstone, and the county is divided into 12 a...

socialism

(Encyclopedia)socialism, general term for the political and economic theory that advocates a system of collective or government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods. Because...

imperialism

(Encyclopedia)imperialism, broadly, the extension of rule or influence by one government, nation, or society over another. Imperialism was reborn in the West with the emergence of the modern nation-state and the ...

Maori

(Encyclopedia)Maori mäˈōrē [key], people of New Zealand and the Cook Islands, believed to have migrated in early times from other islands of Polynesia. Maori tradition asserts that seven canoes brought their an...

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

(Encyclopedia)General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), former specialized agency of the United Nations. It was established in 1948 as an interim measure pending the creation of the International Trade Organiz...

balance of power

(Encyclopedia)balance of power, system of international relations in which nations seek to maintain an approximate equilibrium of power among many rivals, thus preventing the preponderance of any one state. Crucial...

Ballou, Adin

(Encyclopedia)Ballou, Adin bălo͞oˈ [key], 1803–90, American Universalist clergyman, b. Cumberland, R.I. He was prominent in the movement that resulted in the Massachusetts Association of Universal Restorationi...