A collective is a group of people who share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together on a specific project to achieve a common objective. Collectives are also characterised by attempts to share and exercise political and social power and to make decisions on a consensus-driven and egalitarian basis. Collectives differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an economic benefit or saving.

A commune or intentional community, which may also be known as a "collective household", is a group of people who live together in some kind of dwelling or residence, or in some other arrangement. Collective households may be organized for a specific purpose.

Collective consciousness is a term created by French social theorist Emile Durkheim that describes how an entire community comes together to share similar values.

The term collective is sometimes used to describe a species as a whole, for example the human collective.