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Philip Bonner

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Philip Bonner
Born(1945-03-31)31 March 1945
Died24 September 2017(2017-09-24) (aged 72)
Academic background
Alma materSOAS University of London
Academic work
DisciplineHistorian
Sub-disciplineHistory of South Africa
Social history
Labour history
InstitutionsUniversity 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

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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

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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

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  • 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.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hofmeyr, Isabel (2018). "Obituary: Professor Philip Bonner (1945–2017)". Journal of Southern African Studies. 44 (6): 1163–1165. doi:10.1080/03057070.2018.1537154. Open access icon
  2. ^ a b Murray, Bruce K. "Philip Bonner (1945-2017)". University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  3. ^ Kuper, Hilda (1987). "Reviews". Africa. 57 (3): 404–406. doi:10.2307/1160733. JSTOR 1160733. Closed access icon
  4. ^ a b Bonner, Philip (December 1994). "New Nation, New History: The History Workshop in South Africa, 1977-1994". The Journal of American History. 81 (3): 977–985. doi:10.2307/2081437. hdl:10539/7715. JSTOR 2081437. Closed access icon
  5. ^ a b c d Nieftagodien, Noor; Kallaway, Peter; Mooney, Katie; Hyslop, Jon (2017). "Obituary: 'Comrade Professor' – Phil Bonner". South African Historical Journal. 69 (4): 639–644. doi:10.1080/02582473.2017.1403126. Open access icon
  6. ^ Bonner, Philip; Hyslop, Jonathan; van der Walt, Lucien (2007). "Rethinking Worlds of Labour: Southern African Labour History in International Context". African Studies. 66 (2–3): 137–167. doi:10.1080/00020180701482628. Open access icon
  7. ^ a b "Distinguished historian passes away". University of the Witwatersrand. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  8. ^ Keim, Wiebke (2015). Universally Comprehensible, Arrogantly Local: South African Labour Studies from the Apartheid Era into the New Millennium (PDF). Éditions des archives contemporaines. p. 143.
  9. ^ Malec, Jennifer (26 September 2017). "Obituary: Professor Phil Bonner (1945—2017)". Johannesburg Review of Books. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  10. ^ Moss, Glenn (30 September 2017). "In memory of Phil Bonner: the early years". The New Radicals. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
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