European political naming of racial issues shifted under group pressure and internal uncertainty.

Evidence

In many European countries there has been much uncertainty about what to call the various aspects of relations associated with immigration. The names chosen have often reflected the political pressure brought to bear by particular groups. Thus the European Parliament in 1984 established a Committee of Inquiry into the Rise of Fascism and Racism in Europe. This was followed five years later by a Committee of Inquiry into Racism and Xenophobia. The Council of Europe in 1993 agreed to set up a Commission on Racism and Intolerance, while the European Union declared 1997 the European Year against Racism without defining what it meant by racism. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 678

Categorization

• QUESTION: The shift from ‘fascism’ to ‘xenophobia’ to ‘racism’ to ‘intolerance’ is a telling lexical history worth tracing further.