Defending national linguistic territories in the European Single Market: towards more transnational geolinguistic analysis

This paper calls for more analysis of contemporary transnational linguistic movements. Geographers have hitherto focused on linguistic problems within states and paid less attention to issues that arise as languages, notably English, are used internationally across state boundaries. It does this by examining a conflict that arose when forces integrating the supranational European Single Market space came into conflict with a Member State's determination to protect the linguistic ‘integrity’ of its national territory. This conflict would appear to be a precursor of similar ones to come as languages increasingly compete in a linguistic market within an integrating Europe and a globalizing world.