The Right to Interpret: Hermeneutical Justice

Sor Juana challenged male ecclesiastical authorities' monopoly on biblical and philosophical interpretation, asserting that women possessed equal capacity for rigorous hermeneutics. This claim extends beyond textbooks to encompass who gets to define political concepts, national identity, historical narratives, and constitutional meaning. Hermeneutical justice recognizes that interpretive power is political power: controlling how laws are read, how history is understood, and how culture is valued shapes whose interests are served. Across cultures, this concept validates indigenous interpretations of land rights, post-colonial rereadings of history, and subaltern communities' alternative understandings of justice and identity. It positions interpretation itself as a site of political struggle and liberation.