Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Woodsworth, James Shaver, 1874–1942, Canadian politician. Having done social welfare work while serving as a Methodist minister, he later gave up the ministry to devote himself wholly to labor and w...

(Encyclopedia) Vorkuta vərko͞otäˈ [key], city (2010 pop. 70,548), Komi Republic, NE European Russia, above the Arctic Circle. It is the industrial center of the Pechora coal basin. Founded in 1932 as the site of...

(Encyclopedia) Troelstra, Pieter Jelles pēˈtər yĕlˈĕs tro͞olˈsträ [key], 1860–1930, Dutch Socialist. In 1893 he founded what later became the Sociaaldemocrata, the official Socialist paper, and in 1900 he...

(Encyclopedia) Becker, Gary Stanley, 1930–2014, American economist. A professor at the Univ. of Chicago from 1968, he was awarded the 1992 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for extending the scope of micro...

(Encyclopedia) Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) frôN də lēbĕräsyôNˈ dü kābĕkˈ [key], Canadian separatist group formed in the 1960s to bring about the independence of Quebec, which has a French herita...

(Encyclopedia) domestic service, work performed in a household by someone who is not a member of the family. It was performed by slaves in many early civilizations, e.g., in Greece and Rome. Under the feudal system ...

(Encyclopedia) Durkheim, Émile dûrkˈhīm, Fr. āmēlˈ dürkĕmˈ [key], 1858–1917, French sociologist. Along with Max Weber he is considered one of the chief founders of modern sociology. Educated in France an...

(Encyclopedia) boycott, concerted economic or social ostracism of an individual, group, or nation to express disapproval or coerce change. The practice was named (1880) after Capt. Charles Cunningham Boycott, an Eng...

(Encyclopedia) Humphrey, Hubert Horatio, 1911–78, U.S. Vice President (1965–69), b. Wallace, S.Dak. After practicing pharmacy for several years, Humphrey taught political science and became involved in state pol...

(Encyclopedia) cost of living, amount of money needed to buy the goods and services necessary to maintain a specified standard of living. The cost of living is closely tied to rates of inflation and deflation. In es...