The aim of this article is to investigate the role of anxiety as an emotional state frequently identified as the most characteristic of the history of modern Europe, and of the ‘Global North’. Starting from an assessment of the main supporters of this interpretation in social theory – such as the risk society approach of Ulrich Beck, and the role of expert knowledge in Anthony Giddens – the article discusses the current relevance and limitations of this well-established notion. The second part applies this discussion to the role of anxiety in the recent Covid-19 outbreak, and more specifically with regard to its relations with trust in scientific knowledge. Even though Covid-19 has been a global pandemic, this emergency can reveal some cultural and historical characteristics of European anxiety in the geo-cultural map of emotions.

本文的目的是调查焦虑作为一种情绪状态的作用，这种情绪状态经常被认为是现代欧洲和“全球北方”历史的最典型特征。从对社会理论中这种解释的主要支持者的评估开始——例如 Ulrich Beck 的风险社会方法，以及 Anthony Giddens 中专家知识的作用——本文讨论了这一公认概念的当前相关性和局限性。第二部分将此讨论应用于焦虑在最近的 Covid-19 爆发中的作用，更具体地说是关于它与对科学知识的信任的关系。尽管 Covid-19 已成为全球性大流行病，但这种紧急情况可以在情绪的地理文化地图中揭示欧洲焦虑的一些文化和历史特征。