Institutional Critique of Exploitation

Sor Juana was acutely aware of how institutions—the Church, patriarchal structures, colonial hierarchies—normalize and enforce injustice through authority and tradition. She developed sophisticated critiques of these systems even under threat of punishment. This analytical method applies powerfully to animal exploitation. Industrial agriculture, medical research, entertainment industries, and fashion systems are institutional structures that normalize animal abuse through legitimacy and convention. This concept calls for systematic critique of how institutions justify and perpetuate animal exploitation, examining the rhetorical and practical mechanisms that make cruelty seem natural or necessary. Like Sor Juana questioning religious authority, this framework questions the authority of industries that profit from animal suffering. It recognizes that changing individual behavior is insufficient; we must challenge the institutional frameworks that create incentives for exploitation and obscure its reality from public view.