Abstract | Smell, like taste, manifests itself only when stimulated, making it hard to recall its effect outside that moment of direct exposure. Although often the ‘forgotten sense’, the olfactory is the most potent way of anchoring ourselves to the world. Nonetheless, it remains the most surpressed and downgraded of the senses, because it is closely related to our bodily functions – our animality. This chapter explores the meanings that ‘smell’ has and sets out the case for an examination of the law that takes account of smell, noting that they share similar qualities, both having the potential to perform the same acts of unification and division when constructing normative spaces. It concludes with a summary of the chapters that follow. |
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