Epistemic Justice: Whose Knowledge Counts

Sor Juana's work was dismissed or appropriated by those with institutional power, while her insights were excluded from official theological discourse because of her gender and status. Epistemic justice asks: whose knowledge counts? Who has authority to speak? Which ways of knowing are validated? These aren't academic questions but justice issues. Sor Juana herself exercised epistemic justice by insisting on her right to knowledge and on the validity of perspectives (including women's, Indigenous, and non-European viewpoints) excluded from dominant systems. For practitioners seeking authenticity across traditions, epistemic justice means auditing your own biases: Whose voices have you dismissed? Which knowledge systems do you privilege? How do power structures shape what you consider valid? This concept calls you to expand epistemic humility and recognize that authenticity requires hearing previously silenced voices within and across traditions.