Epistemic Justice and the Right to Interpret

Sor Juana challenged the monopoly on biblical and philosophical interpretation held by male ecclesiastical authorities. She asserted her right—and women's collective right—to read, analyze, and reinterpret texts. This concept draws on epistemic justice: the recognition that those excluded from knowledge production often generate superior understandings precisely because they must critique from the margins. Acknowledging privilege means recognizing that our interpretive frameworks may be limited by our position of safety within dominant systems. Sor Juana's reinterpretations of Scripture, undertaken from her marginalized position as a woman, revealed blind spots in male-dominated theology. This framework inverts the hierarchy of knowledge: the subjugated interpreter possesses epistemic privilege. Those with institutional privilege must learn to listen to interpretations that challenge their own, treating marginalized voices as repositories of critical wisdom. Privilege acknowledgment thus becomes an opportunity to expand what we know and how we know.