Group Rights

The "Key Issues" series aims to make available the contemporary responses that met important books and debates on their first appearance. These take the form of journal articles, book extracts, public letters, sermons and pamphlets which provides an insight into the historical relevance and the social and political context in which a publication or particular topic emerged. Each volume brings together bring together some of the key responses to the works. The idea of unitary states has been greatly eroded by the rise of group consciousness in the 20th century. Consequently it has been argued that groups, as well as individuals, are subjects of "rights". The articles in this book illustrate the different kinds of groups which have been accorded rights, the various threats to which the doctrine of group rights has been a response, and the reservations which its protagonists have elicited. The authors include F.W. Maitland, G.D.H. Cole, Ernest Barker, Michael Oakeshott, F.A. Hayek, and other contemporary political thinkers. An introduction sets the concern of these writers in historical context.