John E. Joseph teaches and does research in a range of areas within applied linguistics and in the history of linguistics. His PhD (University of Michigan, 1981) on language standardization engaged with issues of coloniality on the political, social and intellectual levels, and led to the book "Eloquence and Power: The Rise of Language Standards and Standard Languages" (Blackwell, 1987). His later books include "Language and Identity: National, Ethnic, Religious" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), "Language and Politics" (Edinburgh UP, 2006), "Saussure" (Oxford UP, 2012) and "Language, Mind and Body: A Conceptual History" (Cambridge UP, 2018).