Abstract: This presentation draws from Smith's observant participation research with local, national, and international human rights advocates. Her research on this topic grows from her earlier work on transnational global justice activism and on how people in different parts of the world are responding to pressures of globalization. Smith's current research reports on some of her work as a founding member and leader in Pittsburgh's Human Rights City Alliance, and it explores questions about how local practices and experiences are related to global level politics and movements. The talk will engage questions about the roles of scholar-activists and the challenges of doing engaged research. It also considers how this political moment calls for far more equitable and constructive engagement between the academy and the communities in which we live.