Aside from the cosmological phenomenon of structure formation itself, evidence for dark matter in galaxies is mostly kinematical, and is based on a mean-field analysis of the gravitational potential underlying the observed velocity distributions of various tracers, usually assumed to be in approximate steady-state. We discuss the possibility of identifying a beyond-mean-field, non-steady-state effect: the inspiral of globular cluster orbits due to dark matter-induced gravitational dynamical friction. After reviewing the basic effect, and intriguing early attempts to detect it, we show preliminary positive evidence for it in globular cluster-rich dwarf galaxies.
