The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Through the Lens of Response Assemblages (RAs)

Natural resource use can produce conflicts, especially when new resource plans threaten existing practices. Such is the case, for example, with the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), constructed 2016–2017. However, such conflicts can be complicated and difficult to decipher. In recent years, the concept of Response Assemblages (RAs) has become an increasingly used tool of analysis. Simultaneously, differing notions of RAs have emerged. This article applies varying conceptions of Response Assemblages (RAs) to the conflict surrounding the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to provide better understandings of both RAs and the conflict. This article focuses on the court cases that ensued from the time that the DAPL was approved by the Trump administration in January 2017 until May 2021.