Epistemic Justice and the Right to Knowledge

Sor Juana's struggle included not just the right to pursue knowledge but to have her knowledge recognized as legitimate. As a woman, a creole, and someone with indigenous ancestry, she faced epistemic injustice—the systematic dismissal of her intellectual contributions based on her identity rather than the quality of her ideas. This concept, developed in contemporary philosophy, names how identities are used to disqualify people from being heard as authorities. Across cultures, certain people are presumed knowers (wealthy, male, European) while others are presumed ignorant (women, colonized peoples, the poor) regardless of actual expertise. When identity determines credibility more than evidence, knowledge becomes a site of injustice. Sor Juana's refusal to accept this dismissal models epistemic resistance. In multicultural contexts, this means actively listening to voices systematically excluded from authority, recognizing that name and identity should never determine whether someone's knowledge deserves respect.