Interviews were conducted with 35 grass roots activists from middle-sized U.S. cities and small towns to learn about their perspectives and activities. No effort was made to obtain a representative sample of activists. The five main approaches to social change encountered were represented by members of the ideological and political left, by community-organizing and neighborhood empowerment groups, and by advocates of lifestyle change, interpersonal transformation (e.g., feminism), and spiritual transformation. Among the findings are the following. There is a strong emphasis on decentralization among grass roots activists. A possible basis for collaboration between localists and globalists is their shared anti-statism. The networks created by local activists tend not to extend beyond the state (nation) boundary. Local activists tend not to be activating, or even informing, local people about suffering on a global basis. Local activists tend to change their lifestyles so that they reflect their beliefs; the globalists do not. The localists rarely have visions of the future, compared to the global future tradition of the globalists. There are a small number of local/global activists. (Author/RM)