In the 1970s, Pittsburgh was hit hard by the collapse of the steel industry when several hundred people were forced to leave because of unemployment. During this time there was no policy introduced to help rebuild the city, and it has struggled economically ever since. This made it an odd choice for the site of the G20 summit, which cost the city an estimated $20 million dollars. Many protestors and locals, including Nation writer Jeremy Scahill, gathered peacefully to protest corporate globalization and the summit’s financial burden on the city. They feel that the capitalist nations involved in the summit only foster exploitation, the exact thing the summit was aimed to work against.

—Alana Levinson

Check out more great Nation videos on our YouTube channel.