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The term 'collective rights' refers to rights which are held and exercised by all the people collectively, or by specific subsets of the people. They stand in contrast to individual rights which are held only by individuals. This category of rights is large and heterogeneous: it includes the purported right of trade unions to bargain collectively, the right to bring class-action suits^[1], and most prominently the right to democratic self determination, the freedom to roam, and the right of revolution. Debatably the civil right to keep and bear firearms in the United States is also a collective right. ^[2],
This is a controversial topic, particularly where claims to collective rights conflict with the claims of individual rights. It is very much an open question whether collective rights ought to be considered legitimate at all, and, if so, how these collective rights are best balanced with individual rights.
In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly's Universal Declaration of Human Rights was endorsed by many modern nation-states. With the exception of the 'right to self-determination', all rights specified were based on the individual.
Collective rights are associated with third-generation rights.

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References

See also

References

1. Kymlicka Will. 1995. ''Multicultural Citizenship'' Oxford: University Press, p.45, pp.34-35
2. Summary of Second Amendment Case Law - Federal Cases accessed 6/3/07 http://www.lcav.org/content/secondamendment.asp

See also

★ Diaspora politics

★ Identity politics

★ Self-determination

★ Group rights