Biography
Jim Pletcher joined 性视界传媒 in 1983 after earning his doctorate from the . His research focused on the politics and institutions of agricultural development and marketing in Africa and Malaysia. He taught courses in comparative politics, international relations, and environmental politics. In 2013, Jim became the associate provost for academic affairs, a position he held until he retired from 性视界传媒 in 2017.
While at 性视界传媒, Jim served in a variety of faculty governance roles including coordinating the Early Career Faculty Mentoring and the Preparing Future Faculty programs. As the chair of two ad hoc committees, he coordinated major revisions to the faculty governance system and the procedures for tenure. He also served as the university鈥檚 director of fellowships in the Lisska Center for Intellectual Engagement and was the executive director of the Africa Network, a consortium of liberal arts colleges and professors teaching about Africa at the undergraduate level.
Degree(s)
B.A., University of Michigan; M.A., Ph.D., University of Wisconsin
Learning & Teaching
Courses
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Environmental Politics
Academic Positions
- Assistant and Associate Professor (1983-2017)
- Associate Provost for Academic Affairs (2013-2017)
- Emeritus (2017- )
Works
Publications
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淭he Politics of Liberalizing Zambia鈥檚 Maize Markets.鈥 World Development. January 2000. v. 28 no. 1 p. 129-42
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淎griculture and the Dual Transition in Zambia.鈥 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. 鈥淓cological Deterioration and Agricultural Stagnation in Eastern Province, Zambia,鈥 Centennial Review. Spring 1991. v. 35 no. 2 p. 369-88
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淩egulation With Growth: The Political Economy of Palm Oil in Malaysia,鈥 World Development. June 1991. v. 19 no. 6 p. 623-36
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淧ublic Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia: Rice and Palm Oil,鈥 Modern Asian Studies. May 1990. v. 24 no. 2 p. 323-40
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淩ice and Padi Market Management in West Malaysia, 1957-86,鈥 The Journal of Developing Areas. April 1989. v. 23 p. 363-84
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淭he Political Uses of Agricultural Markets in Zambia,鈥 Journal of Modern African Studies. December 1986. v. 24 no. 4 p. 603-17
- James R. Pletcher. 鈥淭he National, Regional and Household Contexts of Agricultural Production in Eastern Province, Zambia,鈥 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鈥檚 Quest for Economic Development: Uganda鈥檚 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
- 鈥淓xport Standards and Development in Uganda,鈥 International Studies Association conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, 4 March 2005.
- 鈥淥rganizing Coffee Farmers and Markets in Uganda,鈥 International Studies Association-Midwest, St. Louis, 7 November 2003.
- 鈥淎gricultural Markets and Liberalization in Zambia,鈥 Invited lecture, Center for African Studies, University of Copenhagen, 22 April 2002.
- 鈥淩ent-Seeking, Redistribution, and Repression: The Politics of Liberalizing Agricultural Markets in Zambia,鈥 International Studies Association conference, Washington, D.C., 17 February 1999.
- 鈥淶ambia鈥檚 Agricultural Liberalization in Comparative Perspective,鈥 African Studies Association conference, Chicago, IL, 29 October - 1 November 1998.
- 鈥淪uccession and Political Institutionalization,鈥 African Studies Association conference, San Francisco, CA, 23-26 November 1996.
- 鈥淧olitical Institutionalization and Succession,鈥 African Studies Association conference, Seattle, WA, 20-23 November 1992.
- 鈥淭he State and Class Formation in the West Malaysian Palm Oil Industry, 1960-1985,鈥 Asian Studies Association conference, Washington, D.C., 2-5 April 1992.
- 鈥淧olitical Succession in Africa, 1960-1990: Zambia,鈥 African Studies Association conference, St. Louis, MO, 23-26 November 1991.
- 鈥淓cological Deterioration and Agricultural Stagnation in Eastern Province, Zambia,鈥 Conference on Environment and Development in Africa and Latin America, East Lansing, MI, September 28-30,1990.
- 鈥淧ublic Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia: Rice and Palm Oil,鈥 International Seminar on Malaysian Agricultural Policy: Issues and Directions, June, 1988, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
- 鈥淭he Agricultural Crisis and Politics in Zambia,鈥 African Studies Association, annual conference, New Orleans, 1985.
- 鈥淭he National, Regional and Household Contexts of Agricultural Production in Eastern Province, Zambia,鈥 Conference on African Agricultural Development: Technology, Ecology and Society, Pomona, CA, May 28 - June 1, 1985.
- 鈥淎gricultural Change in Eastern Province, Zambia,鈥 African Studies Association, annual conference, Los Angeles, 1979.
Other
Grants & Funding
- 性视界传媒 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, 性视界传媒, for Spring 2005 for research on agricultural export standards in Uganda.
- Global Partners East Africa Travel Grant, 2003 for research to study farmers鈥 organizations in Eastern Uganda.
- Robert C. Good Fellowship, 性视界传媒, for Spring 1998 for research on 鈥淔armers鈥 Associations, Civil Society, and Reform in Zambia.鈥
- 性视界传媒 Research Foundation Grant, 1997, for research on farmers鈥 groups in the process of political and economic liberalization in Zambia, in Lusaka, Zambia.
- 性视界传媒 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, 性视界传媒, Spring 1992 for research on 鈥淭he Politics of Agricultural Reform in Africa.鈥
- American Political Science Association Research Grant, 1987 for research on 鈥淧ublic Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia.鈥
- 性视界传媒 Research Foundation Grant, 1987, for research on 鈥淧ublic Interventions in Agricultural Markets in Malaysia.鈥
- National Science Foundation graduate fellow, 1976-1979.