Michael McEachrane is a Visiting Researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights. He has a PhD in Philosophy (with distinction, 2006) from Åbo Akademi University in Finland and has held positions at universities in the US, Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden, Germany and the UK.
His current research focus is on postcolonial/decolonial perspectives on human rights, structural racial discrimination and reparatory justice. Among his publications are the books Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe (Routledge, 2014) and Sverige och de Andra: Postkoloniala perspektiv (Natur & Kultur, 2001).
Michael McEachrane is a regular commentator on issues of race for international as well as Swedish media. He is also a seasoned universal human rights advocate who, among other things, has helped found several CSOs and served as an expert advisor to the UN around the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024.
KEYWORDS:
- Postcolonial/decolonial perspectives on human rights, structural racial discrimination, reparatory justice
Select Publications
- Book: Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe (Routledge, 2014)
- Journal article, “Universal Human Rights and the Coloniality of Race in Sweden” (in the Human Rights Review, 2018).
- Forthcoming book chapters 2020: “Situating Afro-/African Swedish Studies”; “Meanings of Words and the Possibilities of Psychology: Reflections on Jan Smedslund’s Psycho-logic”; “Pan-Africanism and the African Diaspora in Europe.”
- For some sample opinion articles: “Sverige bör återinföra termen ras i lagen“; ”Det är avgörande att Sverige omvärderar bilden av sig själv” [It is crucial that Sweden reevaluates the image of itself]; “Seeing Sweden’s Race Problem for what it is”; “Reparations Movement Has Basic Tenets of Justice and Equality on its Side.”
- For human rights advocacy related links: “What Will the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent Mean for Europe?”; “Public Statement in Support of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent”
Ongoing Projects
- Currently (September 2019) working on a journal article on extraterritorial rights and obligations and global justice. The article is part of a book-length research project, The Past Is Still with Us: Reparations, Rights and Imperial Legacies.
- Also engaged in a few civil society projects, including acting as a consultant for the development of an international civil society network around a new UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
