This article uses a Bernsteinian approach to explore, examine, and theorize about an activity in the upper-secondary curriculum within the Swedish Language subject. Based on an examination of the interplay between different educational actors in this recontextualization process the possibilities for pupils with different social backgrounds and their possibilities to gain access to valuable knowledge are delineated. The analysis is conducted in relation to a specific classroom activity called "reading critically", of which four different aspects are described, each of which in its own way illustrates how didactic choices are justified in general and also specifically for pupils from different social backgrounds. Finally, an attempt is made to examine the findings in light of the recent neo-liberal turn in education in Sweden. (Contains 14 notes and 1 figure.)