Anne Pitcher

Professor Anne Pitcher holds dual appointments as the Joel Samoff Collegiate Professor in Political Science and Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. She is also the Associate Chair of the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and Director of Graduate Studies. Her research focuses on the political economy of urban development, authoritarian governance, and regulatory institutions in Africa, with fieldwork in Mozambique, Angola, South Africa, and Zambia. She serves as President of the African Studies Association and leads projects like the geo-coding of Luanda’s residential developments.

Education: Duke University (B.A. Political Science and History), Oxford University (M.Phil. and D.Phil. in Politics).

Research Interests: Urban political economy, distribution under authoritarianism, privatization agencies, and comparative party politics. She has built datasets analyzing 29 African countries’ privatization frameworks and is currently studying Luanda and Nairobi’s urban development through a 2018 Stellenbosch Institute fellowship.

Awards: Honorable Mention for Best Book (2012), Dudley Seers Prize (2017). She co-edits the African Perspectives book series at the University of Michigan Press.

Teaching & Affiliations: Courses include African Politics, Business and Politics in Developing Countries. Affiliated with the Center for Political Studies, African Studies Center, and Program in International and Comparative Studies.