Epistemic Justice and Credibility Gaps

Sor Juana's vast learning was constantly questioned, her interpretations challenged, and her right to intellectual authority denied—not because of the quality of her thought but because she occupied a body marked as feminine, colonial, and sometimes presumed indigenous. This epistemic injustice—the denial of someone's credibility as a knower—is experienced acutely by those with multiple marginalized identities. Intersectional practice names how credibility is unevenly distributed: whose expertise is believed, whose lived experience counts as knowledge, whose interpretation is taken seriously. Understanding epistemic justice means actively interrogating whose voices are centered in decision-making, whose research is funded, whose theorizing is published. It requires actively redistributing intellectual credibility toward those systematically denied it and recognizing the knowledge embedded in marginalized people's survival and resistance.