Bezpieczeństwo narodowe zracjonalizowane? Refleksyjne wyznaczanie granic polityczności

The aim of this paper is to analyse the contradiction between the political issues of the national security, and its rationalisation, related primarily to the process of the reflexive moderni- sation and transformation into (world) risk society. Theoretical perspective adopted here includes three components. These are: the theory of reflexive modernisation (A. Giddens, U. Beck, S. Lash), the theory of politics Ch. Mouffe (as a continuation of the classical theory of C. Schmitt) and theo- ries of security adapted to the demands of sociology. Analysis is picked up in four steps: analysing the political nature of national security, indicating conflicts over security (agonistic and antagonistic, internal and external, as well as reflexive self-threats); identifying the actors of the late modernity, relevant for security issues; pointing to the cultural conditions of the mechanisms for definition of the limits of the political. Paper concludes with a summary.