Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2010: The crisis of American imperial society

The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is an annual gathering of scholars, students, policymakers and practitioners to exchange ideas and nurture groundbreaking research. This year's Congress is being held at Concordia University in Montreal, with "connected understanding" as its overriding theme.

Florian Olsen is a PhD candidate with the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa. The lecture he gave on June 2nd was entitled, "Those About to Die Salute You: Sacrifice, The War in Iraq, and the Crisis of American Imperial Society." He argued that the Iraq War has caused division and resentment in American society between lower-middle class citizens more likely to experience the conflict through military service, and the more privileged, whose lives are not as directly impacted by it.