Anxiety is a politically charged and socially potent phenomenon. Scholars, politicians and activists often describe our present times as the ‘age of anxiety’. Anxiety permeates emotional or affective experiences, sets in motion temporal particularities, and creates distinct governing logics. Anxiety—in social sciences and international relations—is often linked with affect. By mobilising the distinction between anxiety as affect and anxiety as experience Rumelili points out that anxiety is different from fear. If fear arises from identifiable objects, then anxiety is a reaction to something which cannot be located. It is thus primarily a (disorienting) reaction to something with an unknown ‘source’. In my response to Rumelili I engage with the transformative potential that the experience of anxiety might have for how we conceive of political action. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis I begin by outlining the role of anxiety as a structural force in the constitution of the subject before exploring its broader socio-political significance. I acknowledge that Rumelili notes the ‘structural significance’ of anxiety, but nonetheless, an appreciation of anxiety’s embeddedness in social and political reality remains missing in her work. My response explores the transformative potential of anxiety that Rumelili’s contribution only hints at.

焦虑是一种具有政治意义和社会影响力的现象。学者、政治家和活动家经常将我们的时代描述为“焦虑时代”。焦虑渗透到情绪或情感体验中，启动时间的特殊性，并创造出独特的管理逻辑。焦虑——在社会科学和国际关系中——通常与情感有关。通过调动作为情感的焦虑和作为体验的焦虑之间的区别，鲁梅利指出焦虑与恐惧不同。如果恐惧来自可识别的物体，那么焦虑就是对无法定位的事物的反应。因此，它主要是对未知“来源”的事物的（迷失方向）反应。在我对 Rumelili 的回应中，我谈到了焦虑体验可能对我们如何构想政治行动所具有的变革潜力。借鉴拉康精神分析，我首先概述焦虑作为主体构成中的一种结构性力量的作用，然后再探讨其更广泛的社会政治意义。我承认 Rumelili 注意到焦虑的“结构意义”，但尽管如此，她的作品中仍然缺少对焦虑嵌入社会和政治现实的理解。我的回答探讨了 Rumelili 的贡献所暗示的焦虑的变革潜力。我承认 Rumelili 注意到焦虑的“结构意义”，但尽管如此，她的作品中仍然缺少对焦虑嵌入社会和政治现实的理解。我的回答探讨了 Rumelili 的贡献所暗示的焦虑的变革潜力。我承认 Rumelili 注意到焦虑的“结构意义”，但尽管如此，她的作品中仍然缺少对焦虑嵌入社会和政治现实的理解。我的回答探讨了 Rumelili 的贡献所暗示的焦虑的变革潜力。