Philip Bonner

Philip Bonner
Born	(1945-03-31)31 March 1945 Leeds, United Kingdom
Died	24 September 2017(2017-09-24) (aged 72)

Academic background
Alma mater	SOAS University of London
Academic work
Discipline	Historian
Sub-discipline	History of South Africa Social history Labour history
Institutions	University of the Witwatersrand

Philip Lewis Bonner (31 March 1945 – 24 September 2017) was a historian of South Africa. He was an Emeritus Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand with a focus on labour and urban history.

Academic career

Bonner was hired in 1971 in the history department of the University of the Witwatersrand to establish African history as a scholarly field.^[1] His early work was concerned with the Swazi Kingdom in the nineteenth century,^[1] and resulted in his first monograph, based on his doctoral thesis, published in 1983.^[2]^[3] In 1977, following the Soweto uprising,^[4] Bonner was involved in the founding of the History Workshop at the University of the Witwatersrand,^[5] and was its chair from 1987–2012.^[1] Inspired by the History Workshop Journal at the University of Oxford,^[4] the scholars at Witwatersrand championed local social history^[6] and emphasised the use of oral testimonies.^[7] He was chair of the group from 1987 until 2012.^[1] From 1979, Bonner sat on the editorial board of the South African Labour Bulletin.^[8] Between 1998 and 2003, he was head of the History Department at Witwatersrand.^[5] In 2007, Bonner was awarded a National Research Foundation Chair in Local Histories and Present Realities, which he held until his retirement in 2012.^[5]

Beyond academic writing, he was involved in the development of the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg,^[7] and was the historical consultant on a documentary series about Soweto.^[9]

Trade union activism

In addition to his academic activities, Bonner was involved in worker education and trade unions,^[2] affiliated particularly with the ideology of 'workerism'.^[10] In the 1980s, he served as the education officer for the Federation of South African Trade Unions.^[5]

Major publications

Bonner, Philip (1982). Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires: The Evolution and Dissolution of the Nineteenth-Century Swazi State (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52124270-3.
Bonner, Philip; Delius, Peter; Posel, Deborah, eds. (1993). Apartheid's Genesis, 1935–1962. Ravan Press.
Bonner, Philip; Segal, Lauren (1998). Soweto: A History. Maskew Miller Longman.
Bonner, Philip; Nieftagodien, Noor (2001). Kathorus: A History. Maskew Miller Longman.
Bonner, Philip; Esterhuysen, Amanda; Jenkins, Trefor, eds. (2007). A Search for Origins: Science, history and South Africa's 'Cradle of Humankind'. Wits University Press. doi:10.18772/22007104181. ISBN 9781868146697.
Swanepoel, Natalie; Esterhuysen, Amanda; Bonner, Philip, eds. (2008). Five Hundred Years Rediscovered: Southern African Precedents And Prospects. Wits University Press. doi:10.18772/22008084747. ISBN 9781868146352.
Bonner, Philip; Nieftagodien, Noor (2008). Alexandra: A History. Wits University Press. doi:10.18772/22008114808. ISBN 9781868146147.
Bonner, Philip; Nieftagodien, Noor; Mathabatha, Sello (2012). Ekurhuleni: The Making of an Urban Region. Wits University Press. doi:10.18772/22012115430. ISBN 9781868145997.