Making oil critical: the criminalization of anti-pipeline protest in the United States

Laurent, Rebecca

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113335 Copy

Description

Title

Making oil critical: the criminalization of anti-pipeline protest in the United States

Author(s)

Laurent, Rebecca

Issue Date

2021-07-20

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Johnson, McKenzie

Committee Member(s)

• Billiot, Shanondora
• Marshall, Anna-Maria
• Pahre, Robert

Department of Study

Natural Res & Env Sci

Discipline

Natural Res & Env Sciences

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Environmental studies
• fossil fuels
• social movements
• US politics
• social control

Abstract

In response to anti-pipeline demonstrations, nearly three-quarters of US states have considered or adopted legislation that defines oil pipelines as “critical infrastructure” and enhances penalties for disrupting their operation. This thesis explores the so-called “Critical Infrastructure Bill” at the conjuncture of oil-related repression and resistance. Drawing on 51 semi-structured interviews with legislators, activists, and lobbyists, we trace the emergence and trajectory of the CIB across diverse political contexts and identify the shifting assemblages of interests, coalitions, and discourse that mediate the bill’s success. We further conduct an in-depth case study analysis of the implementation of the CIB during protests against Louisiana’s Bayou Bridge Pipeline in 2018. We find that the success and implementation of the CIB – as well as the future of energy politics and democracy more broadly – are tied to the distribution of fossil capital entrenched in the modern entanglement between oil and the US police state.

Graduation Semester

2021-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113335

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 Rebecca Laurent

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