The principle that freely chosen labor—directed by the individual, not compelled by others—is central to both property rights and human dignity.
Sor Juana's insistence on pursuing scholarship and writing despite social pressure reveals work as an expression of identity and choice. She refused to be reduced to passive, assigned roles; instead, she claimed the right to direct her own intellectual labor. In libertarian justice, this concept protects workers' ownership of their labor and its fruits, opposing coerced or exploited work. The dignity of self-directed work means individuals choose their occupations, control their time, and retain what they produce—not because society permits it, but because they own themselves. Sor Juana's tradition illuminates how denying work choice (through caste systems, gender restrictions, or class barriers) violates both freedom and property rights simultaneously. Applied today, this framework opposes wage slavery, forced labor, and systems that strip individuals of choice in how they work and what they earn.
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