There is an ambiguous relation between the three concepts of globalization, knowledge and curriculum (Yates & Young 2010). A ‘knowledge economy’, through transnational institutions like the OECD and the EU, emphasizes standards, innovation and creativity; thus the contest on what counts as knowledge in national curricula implies a tension between the 'traditional' and 'essential' curriculum. This analysis is focused on the subject of Swedish in the Swedish secondary school, and its displacement through the last two curriculum reforms (1994 and 2011). First, the curriculum, with a focus on the subject of Swedish, is analyzed in relation to transnational and national policy concepts, as knowledge, creativity and innovation. Drawing on Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis, global and macro-regional discourses are recontextualized through dialectical processes of external ‘colonisation’ and internal ‘appropriation’. Second, the analysis is in particular focused on equity, analyzed and discussed in terms of the ‘capability approach’ (Unterhalter & Brighouse 2007), since there is evidence of reduced equivalence in the Swedish school system during the last decade. The analysis results are discussed from three ‘value’ perspectives: the instrumental, the positional, and the intrinsic value of education. Yates, L. & Young, M. (2010): Globalisation, knowledge and the curriculum. European Journal of Education.