Standard sociological theories of ‘taste-as-refinement’, which view taste as a means to maintain social distance among different social classes, conflict with tastemaking practice in pluralistic societies where taste standards are no longer exclusively defined by a society’s elite strata. To better account for the heterogeneity of tastemaking in modern societies, this article suggests a framewo...

with regard to human cloning or artificial human reproduction – and contrary to the opinions of sunni scholars - shiite thinkers have not held a unified position. after having surveyed a number of shiite fatwas and analyses on the subject, this essay will classify them into four groups. the first group states that we are granted absolute permission to engage in human cloning; while the second g...

Conservation science practitioners seek to preempt irreversible impacts on species, ecosystems, and social–ecological systems, requiring efficient timely action even when data understanding are unavailable, incomplete, dated, or biased. These challenges exacerbated by the scientific community's capacity consistently distinguish between reliable unreliable evidence, including recognition of ques...