Dr. Michael McEachrane was a non-resident Visiting Fellow at the Harvard Law School Human Rights Program in 2024, a Member and the Rapporteur of the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. Dr. McEachrane is a Racial Justice Fellow at the Harvard Carr Center for Human Rights Policy. Before coming to Harvard, he was a Senior Visiting Researcher at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Lund, Sweden.
He has a PhD in Philosophy from Åbo Akademi University in Finland and has held positions at universities in the U.S., Canada, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden, Germany, and the UK. His current research focuses on postcolonial/decolonial perspectives on people of African descent, human rights, systemic and structural racial discrimination, and reparatory justice. Among his publications is a forthcoming collection of essays, Decolonial Sweden (Routledge, 2024).
He is a seasoned advocate for people of African descent, especially at the EU and UN levels, and also a regular commentator on issues of race for Swedish and international media.
Related Work
Sample UN work
(2024) Reparations, Global Economic Justice, and the Future of Sustainable Development Panel presentation
(2023) First final report by the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent to the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly.
(2019) Reparations within the UN System Presented at an expert workshop convened by the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance for a thematic report to the General Assembly on racial justice and reparations.
Books
(2024) co-editor with L. Faye,
Decolonial Sweden. New York and London: Routledge
2014) editor. Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe with a foreword by Paul Gilroy. New York and London: Routledge
(2009) co-editor with Y. Gustafsson, and C. Kronqvist.
Emotions & Understanding: Wittgensteinian Perspectives. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
(2001) co-editor with L. Faye,
Sverige och de Andra: Postkoloniala perspektiv [Sweden and the others: Postcolonial perspectives]. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur
Journal Articles & Book Chapters
(2024).
“Racial Social Democracy and the Swedish Welfare State. Part I.” In: Decolonial Sweden edited by McEachrane and Faye. New York and London: Routledge
(2024).
“Racial Social Democracy and the Swedish Welfare State. Part II.” In: Decolonial Sweden edited by McEachrane and Faye. New York and London: Routledge
(2024).
Co-author. “Decolonial Blackness and Indigeneity in Sweden—An Email Conversation.” In: Decolonial Sweden edited by McEachrane and Faye. New York and London: Routledge
(2024).
Co-author. “Coloniality, Whiteness and Systemic Racism in Sweden—An Email Conversation.” In: Decolonial Sweden edited by McEachrane and Faye. New York and London: Routledge
(2024).
Co-author. “(De)Colonial Sweden in the World—An Email Conversation.” In: Decolonial Sweden edited by McEachrane and Faye. New York and London: Routledge
(2024).
Co-author “Introduction.” In: Decolonial Sweden edited by McEachrane and Faye. New York and London: Routledge
(forthcoming)
“Situating Black Swedish Studies”. In: Black Studies in Europe: A Transnational Dialogue edited by S. Fila-Bakabadio and N. Grégoire. Northwestern University Press
(2022) Anti-discrimination Law and Systemic Racism: Challenges for the EU and Nordic Countries In: Scandinavian Studies in Law, volume 68 – Equality edited by L. Carlson and L. Lundstedt. Stockholm: Stockholm Institute of Law at Stockholm University
(2021) On Conceptualising African Diasporas in Europe African Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Africa in a Global World, Volume 13, pp 160-182
(2020) Pan-Africanism and the African Diaspora in Europe In: The Routledge Handbook of Pan-Africanism edited by R. Rabaka. New York and London: Routledge
(2020)
“Meanings of Words and the Possibilities of Psychology: Reflections on Jan Smedslund’s Psychologic.” In: Respect for Thought: Jan Smedslund’s Legacy for Psychology edited by J. Valsiner, E. Stänicke and T.G. Lindstad. Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer
(2018) Universal Human Rights and the Coloniality of Race in Sweden The Human Rights Review, December 2018, Volume 19, Issue 4, pp 471–493
(2014) Introduction In: Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe, edited by M. McEachrane. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 1-13
(2014) There’s a White Elephant in the Room: Equality and Race in (Northern) Europe In: Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe, edited by M. McEachrane. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 87-119
(2014) co-author, A Horn of Africa in Scandinavia—An Email Conversation In: Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe, edited by M. McEachrane. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 227-250
(2014) co-author, The Midnight Sun Never Sets: Jazz, Race and National Identity in Denmark, Sweden and Norway—An Email Conversation In: Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe, edited by M. McEachrane. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 57-83
(2014) co-author, Racism Is No Joke: A Swedish Minister and a Hottentot Venus Cake—An Email Conversation In: Afro-Nordic Landscapes: Equality and Race in Northern Europe, edited by M. McEachrane. New York and London: Routledge, pp. 120-148
(2012) Afro-Swedes In: Encyclopedia of Afroeuropean Studies edited by International research group Afroeureope@s: Culturas e Identidades Negras en Europa. Léon and Ponferrada: Universidad de León, 2012
(2009) Emotion, Meaning and Appraisal Theory Theory & Psychology, Sage Publications, Vol. 19, issue 1: 23-53.
(2009) Capturing Emotional Thoughts: The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy In: Emotions & Understanding: Wittgensteinian Perspectives, edited by McEachrane, Gustafsson, and Kronqvist. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 81-102
(2009)
“Introduction”. In: Emotions & Understanding: Wittgensteinian Perspectives, edited by McEachrane, Gustafsson, and Kronqvist. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 12-27
(2006) Investigating Emotions Philosophically Philosophical Investigations, Blackwell Publishing, Vol. 29, issue 4: 342-357
(2006)
“Beyond a Traditional View on the Emotions”. Ajatus, 63
(2004)
“Are Emotions Cognitive or What?” In: Philosophical Aspects on Emotions, edited by Å. Carlson. Stockholm: Thales, pp. 305-312
(2001)
“Introduction” [Inledning] In: Sverige och de Andra: Postkoloniala Perspektiv [Sweden and the Others: Postcolonial Perspectives], edited by McEachrane and Faye. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur, pp. 3-14
(2001) Negrer och lokomotiv!: Primitivism och modernitet i Artur Lundkvists författarskap [’Negroes and locomotives!’: Primitivism and modernity in Artur Lundkvist’s writing]. In Sverige och de Andra: Postkoloniala Perspektiv [Sweden and the Others: Postcolonial Perspectives], edited by McEachrane and Faye. Stockholm: Natur & Kultur, 77-106
Sample Media Commentaries & Articles
(2023) Wir erleben den Beginn einer großen Dekolonisierungsbewegung [”We are witnessing the beginning of a major decolonisation movement”]. Interview in Der Spiegel, 18 December
(2023) EU Must Face Legacy of Colonialism and Support Reparations Commentary in The Guardian, 6 December
(2023) UN Report Urges Countries to Consider Financial Reparations for Transatlantic Slavery Commentary in The Guardian, 19 September
(2021) Will European Countries Ever Take Meaningful Steps to End Colonial Legacies? Opinion article in The Conversation, 22 February
(2020) “Sweden’s Anti-racism Protests Aren’t Just about What’s Happening in Other Countries Interview in The Local, 23 June
(2019) Does sustainable development have an elephant in the room? Opinion article in Al Jazeera, 10 October
(2014) Seeing Sweden’s Race Problem for what it is Opinion article in Al Jazeera Opinion, 15 December
Work in Progress
“The UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. At the Forefront of Human Rights and Sustainable Development.” A Policy and Practice Note for the Journal of Human Rights Practice.
“Can Human Rights Address Colonial Legacies in the Global Economy?” Journal article for The Global Community Yearbook of International Law and Jurisprudence (GCYILJ)
Decolonial Justice: On Race and Human Rights. Book project.
