Epistemic Justice in Childhood

Sor Juana's writings demonstrate profound insight into human nature, morality, and power—yet her knowledge was often dismissed because of her gender and position. Epistemic injustice occurs when a person's capacity to know and contribute knowledge is systematically doubted or devalued. Children face pervasive epistemic injustice: adults assume children cannot understand complex ideas, that their observations lack validity, that their interpretations of their own experiences are suspect. This epistemic dismissal is a form of oppression that damages children's confidence in their own minds and reasoning. For children's rights, epistemic justice means: listening to children's perspectives on matters affecting them, treating their lived experience as a source of genuine knowledge, creating spaces where children's interpretations are taken seriously, and acknowledging that children can contribute meaningful insight to family, school, and community decisions. When children experience epistemic justice, they develop trust in their own minds, confidence in their voice, and the capacity to claim authority over their own narratives and futures.