Biography
Dr Jim Pletcher joined the faculty 1983 after earning his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. At Denison he has served in a variety of faculty governance rules including coordinating the Early Career mentoring Program and the Preparing Future Faculty Program. He currently serves as the University’s Director of Fellowships. He is also the Executive director of the Africa Network, a consortium of liberal arts colleges and professors teaching about Africa at the undergraduate level. Jim also currently holds the Charles and Nancy Brickman distinguished Service chair.
Dr Pletcher’s research focuses on the politics and institutions of agricultural production and marketing in the developing world. Most of his research has been done in Africa, though he has worked in Malaysia as well. Jim’s current project explores the dynamics of small holder production and marketing of agricultural exports in Uganda. I am also looking at the effect of import standards and global trade negotiations on Ugandan exports.
Degree(s)
B.A., University of Michigan; M.A., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
Works
Publications
- James R. Pletcher. “The Politics of Liberalizing Zambia’s Maize Markets.” World Development. January 2000. v. 28 no. 1 p. 129-42
- James R. Pletcher. “Agriculture and the Dual Transition in Zambia.” Journal of Developing Areas. Winter 1999. v. 33 no. 2 p. 199-222
- James R. Pletcher with Brian Siegel and John Grotpeter. The Historical Dictionary of Zambia, 2nd Edition. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. 1998.
- James R. Pletcher. “Ecological Deterioration and Agricultural Stagnation in Eastern Province, Zambia,” Centennial Review. Spring 1991. v. 35 no. 2 p. 369-88
- James R. Pletcher. “Regulation With Growth: The Political Economy of Palm Oil in Malaysia,” World Development. June 1991. v. 19 no. 6 p. 623-36
- James R. Pletcher. “Public Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia: Rice and Palm Oil,” Modern Asian Studies. May 1990. v. 24 no. 2 p. 323-40
- James R. Pletcher. “Rice and Padi Market Management in West Malaysia, 1957-86,” The Journal of Developing Areas. April 1989. v. 23 p. 363-84
- James R. Pletcher. “The Political Uses of Agricultural Markets in Zambia,” Journal of Modern African Studies. December 1986. v. 24 no. 4 p. 603-17
- James R. Pletcher. “The National, Regional and Household Contexts of Agricultural Production in Eastern Province, Zambia,” Proceedings of the African Agricultural Development Conference. Pomona: California State Polytechnic University, 1985.
Book Reviews
- Review of African Economies and the Politics of Permanent Crisis, 1979-1999 by Nicolas van de Walle in The Journal of Modern African Studies 41,3 (2003): 502-03.
- Review of Africa’s Quest for Economic Development: Uganda’s Experience by Jossy R. Bibangambah in The Journal of Modern African Studies 41,2 (2003): 323-24.
- Review of Structural Adjustment: Theory, Practice and Impacts by Giles Mohan, Ed Brown, Bob Milward, and Alfred B. Zack-Williams in The Journal of Modern African Studies 39,2 (2001): 373-74.
- Review of Government and Society in Malaysia by Harold Crouch in Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 12,1 (1998): 213 -15.
- Review of Cutting Down Trees by Henrietta Moore and Megan Vaugh in The Journal of Modern African Studies 34,4 (1996): 728-30.
- Review of No Shortcuts to Progress: African Development Management in Perspective by Goran Hyden in The Political Science Quarterly, 99 (Fall, 1984): 578-79.
- Review of Underdevelopment and the Transition to Socialism: Mozambique and Tanzania by James Mittelman in The Political Science Quarterly, 98 (Spring, 1982): 171- 72.
Presentations
Conference Papers and Lectures
- “Export Standards and Development in Uganda,” International Studies Association conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, 4 March 2005.
- “Organizing Coffee Farmers and Markets in Uganda,” International Studies Association-Midwest, St. Louis, 7 November 2003.
- “Agricultural Markets and Liberalization in Zambia,” Invited lecture, Center for African Studies, University of Copenhagen, 22 April 2002.
- “Rent-Seeking, Redistribution, and Repression: The Politics of Liberalizing Agricultural Markets in Zambia,” International Studies Association conference, Washington, D.C., 17 February 1999.
- “Zambia’s Agricultural Liberalization in Comparative Perspective,” African Studies Association conference, Chicago, IL, 29 October - 1 November 1998.
- “Succession and Political Institutionalization,” African Studies Association conference, San Francisco, CA, 23-26 November 1996.
- “Political Institutionalization and Succession,” African Studies Association conference, Seattle, WA, 20-23 November 1992.
- “The State and Class Formation in the West Malaysian Palm Oil Industry, 1960-1985,” Asian Studies Association conference, Washington, D.C., 2-5 April 1992.
- “Political Succession in Africa, 1960-1990: Zambia,” African Studies Association conference, St. Louis, MO, 23-26 November 1991.
- “Ecological Deterioration and Agricultural Stagnation in Eastern Province, Zambia,” Conference on Environment and Development in Africa and Latin America, East Lansing, MI, September 28-30,1990.
- “Public Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia: Rice and Palm Oil,” International Seminar on Malaysian Agricultural Policy: Issues and Directions, June, 1988, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
- “The Agricultural Crisis and Politics in Zambia,” African Studies Association, annual conference, New Orleans, 1985.
- “The National, Regional and Household Contexts of Agricultural Production in Eastern Province, Zambia,” Conference on African Agricultural Development: Technology, Ecology and Society, Pomona, CA, May 28 - June 1, 1985.
- “Agricultural Change in Eastern Province, Zambia,” African Studies Association, annual conference, Los Angeles, 1979.
Other
Grants & Funding
- Denison University Research Foundation Grant and a Global Partners East Africa Gravel Grant, 2004 for research to study agricultural export standards in Uganda.
- Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Program Grant and a Robert C. Good Fellowship, Denison University, for Spring 2005 for research on agricultural export standards in Uganda.
- Global Partners East Africa Travel Grant, 2003 for research to study farmers’ organizations in Eastern Uganda.
- Robert C. Good Fellowship, Denison University, for Spring 1998 for research on “Farmers’ Associations, Civil Society, and Reform in Zambia.”
- Denison University Research Foundation Grant, 1997, for research on farmers’ groups in the process of political and economic liberalization in Zambia, in Lusaka, Zambia.
- Denison University Research Foundation Grant, 1995, for research on agricultural market liberalization, and The Historical Dictionary of Zambia in Lusaka, Zambia.
- Program for the Institutional Collaboration in Area Studies (PICAS), University of Michigan, Fall 1992 for research on the state and agricultural development in Indonesia, Thailand and Indonesia.
- Robert C. Good Fellowship, Denison University, Spring 1992 for research on “The Politics of Agricultural Reform in Africa.”
- American Political Science Association Research Grant, 1987 for research on “Public Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia.”
- Denison University Research Foundation Grant, 1987, for research on “Public Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia.”
- National Science Foundation graduate fellow, 1976-1979.
