Biography
Jim Pletcher joined Denison in 1983 after earning his doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 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 Denison in 2017.
While at Denison, 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’s 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. “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.
