Epistemic Justice and Recognition

Sor Juana's theological and philosophical writings were marginalized partly because her voice—as a woman, as colonial—was deemed less credible than European male authorities. Epistemic justice addresses this: the systematic exclusion of certain people from being recognized as knowers. In multicultural political contexts, epistemic injustice manifests when indigenous knowledge systems are dismissed as 'folk belief,' when immigrant communities' expertise is ignored, or when women's intellectual contributions are attributed to men. This concept calls for structural change: creating institutional spaces where diverse epistemologies are genuinely heard, not merely tolerated. Political identity cannot flourish when a group's ways of knowing are delegitimized. Epistemic justice requires active effort—funding non-Western scholarship, centering marginalized voices in policy discussions, validating different intellectual traditions. Sor Juana's insistence on her intellectual authority models this demand: not asking permission to be a knower, but asserting the right to knowledge production and cultural interpretation.