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Andrew Chalfoun

@achalfoun.bsky.social

480 followers 710 following 83 posts

Sociology PhD candidate at UCLA studying religion, organizations and conversation analysis. Writing about Southern Baptist missionaries. Find me at www.andrewchalfoun.com

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · May 15

Maybe "please" isn't so magic after all.

In a new study out in Social Psychology Quarterly, we (me, Giovanni Rossi and Tanya Stivers) find that “please” is rare and typically occurs in requests where we are asking for something we shouldn’t. #EMCA

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

The Magic Word? Face-Work and the Functions of Please in Everyday Requests - Andrew Chalfoun, Giovanni Rossi, Tanya Stivers, 2024

Expressions of politeness such as please are prominent elements of interactional conduct that are explicitly targeted in early socialization and are subject to ...

journals.sagepub.com

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · 4d

So glad to get to see Whooping Cranes today! Photo credit goes to @lenayeakey.bsky.social

Photo of whooping cranes through binoculars

Reposted by Andrew Chalfoun

NPR @npr.org · 9d

JUST IN: President Trump has told top U.S. commanders that the military would be used against "enemy within."

Trump defends use of U.S. military against 'enemy within'

Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the purpose of the department would exclusively be "war fighting."

n.pr

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · 9d

Interesting moment to be fat shaming military personnel. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The U.S. Military’s Recruiting Crisis

The ranks of the American armed forces are depleted. Is the problem the military or the country?

www.newyorker.com

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · 14d

Man, for someone who can't follow a football game, I sure do use a lot of sports references

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · 14d

Nothing but love for reviewers who say, "I have principled objections to some of the positions taken in this paper, but it's a good paper that should be published anyway."

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · 15d

Reminds me of this classic xkcd:

xkcd.com/2368/

Bigger Problem

xkcd.com

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · 22d

This is three decades late but the Duran Duran version of "Lay Lady Lay" is absolutely awful

Reposted by Andrew Chalfoun

Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 28d

My research has been documenting growing support for political violence across the political Left since January. Here are data from participants at all of the major protests in 2025:

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Sep 3

In Our Time is an incredible show! My college roommate played us "The Gin Craze" episode during dinner and I've been hooked ever since.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Sep 3

‘It’s been quite a ride!’ Melvyn Bragg to step down from Radio 4’s In Our Time after 27 years

The broadcaster is leaving the hit BBC programme after presenting more than 1,000 episodes and having ‘enriched the lives of millions’ Melvyn Bragg has announced that he will be leaving BBC Radio 4 show In Our Time after hosting it for 27 years. He launched it in October 1998, after being asked to present a programme during what was known as “the death slot” because of its low Thursday morning audience figures. The show, which explores the characters, events and discoveries that have shaped our world, has proved extremely popular. It celebrated its 1,000th episode in 2023 and is regularly one of the BBC’s most listened to on-demand programmes worldwide. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 26

My betrothed is REFUSING to use a passage from Song of Songs at our wedding just because the reader would say "my nard gave forth its fragrance."

Like, isn't that the whole reason to use it??

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 15

Once again, seems like we might want to just get rid of the Nobel Peace Prize altogether

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 14

Grading is never what I'd call "fun" but sometimes students make mistakes that reveal problems with the original arguments in the assigned readings that I would never have caught on my own.

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 14

@dirkvl.bsky.social @thalkowski.bsky.social, there's a couple of changes I'd like to make to the last section (prompted by the presentation) so it may be a week or two but once those are made I'd love both of your feedback!

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Reposted by Andrew Chalfoun

Ben Kaplow @bkaplow.bsky.social · Aug 6

Excited that my article 'Levels of Legibility: Roles and the Flow of State Information in French Morocco' is now out in Social Science History! The paper shows how French administrators' internal communications transformed environmental knowledge and practices in Morocco

dx.doi.org/10.1017/ssh....

Levels of Legibility: Roles and the Flow of State Information in French Morocco | Social Science History | Cambridge Core

Levels of Legibility: Roles and the Flow of State Information in French Morocco

dx.doi.org

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 10

Forgot to tag @gio-rossi.bsky.social, who unfortunately can't make it but is lead author on the second paper!

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 10

Or, in the same timeslot, join my coauthor Tanya Stivers to hear about some of our joint #EMCA work on accountability in negotiated requests!

tinyurl.com/28w63kxq

Conversation Analysis and Ethnomethodology: Navigating Knowledge, credibility, and Accountability in Talk

This session examines how people negotiate reasonableness, credibility, epistemic positioning and accountability in interaction.

tinyurl.com

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 10

I have one more presentation during #ASA2025! On Monday at 2pm come listen to me talk about how conflict between Christian Right activists and Southern Baptist missionary executives led to bureaucratic centralization that no one wanted: tinyurl.com/29czdf2q

Social and Organizational Forces Influencing Religious Actors

This session investigates how religious actors and institutions are shaped by broader social, legal, and organizational forces. Papers explore the impact of legal and cultural shifts on religious beha...

tinyurl.com

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 9

Calling all early birds! Check out this great session at the Association for the Sociology of Religion on Sunday at 8:30. I'll be presenting a piece of my book project on covert evangelism and international missions. Hope to see you there!

ASR Panel Session:

A5: Religion in and against the State
Room: Lakeshore Ballroom West
Coevolution of Religion and the State: Metaphors of God and
Legitimate Domination
Andrew McKinnon, University of Aberdeen

Learning to Lie: Southern Baptist Missionaries Working with
and against the Chinese State, 1979-1992
Andrew Chalfoun, University of California, Los Angeles

Aristocratic Political Spirituality in the Islamic Republic of
Iran (The Luxury Mausoleum of Khomeini: Reasons and
Representations)
Zahra Khoshk Jan, University of Chicago

A Comparative Analysis of Sacred Stories and Their Impact
in the Iranian and Nicaraguan Revolutions
Jean-Pierre Reed, Southern Illinois Univ; Babak Rahimi,
Univ of California San Diego; Soodeh Mansouri, Univ of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Religion and Local Government Officials’ Attitudes toward
Transgender Rights Policies in the United States
Jonathan Coley, Oklahoma State Univ; Gary Adler, Penn
State Univ; Eric Plutzer, Penn State Univ; Damon Mayrl,
Colby College; Rebecca Sager, Loyola Marymount Univ;
Gabby Gomez, Macalester College

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 6

Happening in a few minutes!

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 5

If you're going to be in Chicago tomorrow (August 6) come to the Voco hotel at 11am to catch my presentation, "Typical Expectations and the Moral Order: Talcott Parsons, Harold Garfinkel, and the Sticky Problem of Meaning" at the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction @sijournal.bsky.social!

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 5

Check out the rest of the conference program here: www.symbolicinteraction.org/conferences/...

Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction - North America SSSI

Media of Interaction

www.symbolicinteraction.org

Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 5

I'll be talking about some problems with how Garfinkel thinks about norms and provide some suggestions for how social interaction researchers can address them #emca.

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Aug 5

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Jul 28

Can you talk a little bit about the privacy and free speech implications of requiring identity checks for users trying to access sites like Reddit and Bluesky?

www.pcmag.com/news/uk-onli...

Reposted by Andrew Chalfoun

Giovanni Rossi @gio-rossi.bsky.social · Jul 25

1/ 📘 Book alert! 🚨 After a long gestation, extensive rewriting, a complex production process, and life getting in the way, it’s finally out* ➡️ doi.org/10.1093/oso/...

Systems of Social Action: The Case of Requesting in Italian

Abstract. This book is about social action as it is carried out in everyday life. To some readers, the phrase social action may evoke the idea of people ta

doi.org

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Andrew Chalfoun @achalfoun.bsky.social · Jul 16

Listening to a truly awful college band and forcing myself to remember that we need to support bad musicians so that a few of them have opportunities to turn into good musicians

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