Emma Gilligan on "The Future and You"

A Reminder of the Rights We Can’t Afford to Forget —
Reflections on Freedom, Responsibility and What It Means to Be Human

What holds us together when the world feels fractured? In The Future and You, Emma Gilligan offers a quiet but powerful meditation on the enduring role of human rights and how they can ground us in a shifting world.

Written as a letter to her great-nephew and future generations, this deeply personal book draws on Gilligan’s lifelong commitment to global justice and moral responsibility, from the war-torn landscapes of Chechnya and Ukraine to the lecture halls of Indiana University. With clarity and purpose, she reflects on freedom, duty, dignity and the fragile beauty of being human.

Presented as a series of reflections, each centered on a fundamental human right, the book blends Gilligan’s values and lived experience to offer a framework for daily life.

This is not a manifesto or a memoir. It’s a reminder that we don’t exist in a vacuum and that courage, compassion and responsibility are already within us. We need only return to them.

The Future and You invites readers to remember that the freedoms to speak openly, move freely, live securely and be cared for are not guaranteed — they must be protected, practiced and passed on.

If you’re seeking resilience, understanding or a sense of direction in uncertain times, you’ll find insight and reassurance woven throughout this concise yet powerful read. Gilligan’s whimsical illustrations add warmth and imagination to her call for introspection and renewal.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Emma Gilligan is a human rights scholar, writer and professor committed to promoting global justice and accountability in post-conflict situations.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, she earned her doctorate in Russian history after studying in Moscow and completing graduate work at the University of Melbourne. Her early work took her to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, where she collaborated with the Andrei Sakharov Foundation and WHO on programming, as well as documenting human rights violations for her own research. That experience laid the groundwork for her first two books: Defending Human Rights in Russia (2004) and Terror in Chechnya (2012).

Published in 2012, Terror in Chechnya received the Lemkin National Book Award from the Institute for the Study of Genocide. Reviewers praised its powerful portrayal of civilian suffering during the Chechen wars and its use of diverse, first-hand sources. Scholar Anna Brodsky called it “a compelling and heart-wrenching picture” of the devastation wrought by Russian military operations.

Her public service has included fellowships with the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center and the U.S. Department of State. In 2020, she became a Senior Advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice. She co-founded the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group (ACA), a U.S., U.K., and E.U. initiative supporting the investigation and prosecution of war crimes in Ukraine. For her work launching the ACA, she received the U.S. Secretary of State Performance Award in 2022.

Currently, Gilligan is an associate professor at Indiana University. Her newest book, The Future and You, grew out of a letter to her grand-nephew. It’s a quiet but powerful reflection on the role of human rights in uncertain times. Through personal insight, clear and inviting language, and her whimsical illustrations, it offers readers a way to reconnect with the values that shape how we live and relate to one another.

Her writing and commentary have appeared on NPR, MSNBC, CNBC, Voice of America, Al Jazeera, and Radio Liberty.

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