Interdependence as Intellectual Framework

Sor Juana's intellectual work was enabled by a network: her teachers, the women who supported her entry into convent life, her readers and correspondents, even her critics who engaged her ideas seriously. Though often portrayed as a solitary genius, she was sustained by relationships and communities. Interdependence as intellectual framework rejects the myth of the autonomous individual knower and instead makes visible the networks that enable all intellectual work. In intersectional practice, recognizing interdependence is crucial because systems of oppression isolate and individualize, creating false narratives of self-sufficiency while actually exploiting invisible networks of care and support. This concept invites practitioners to: make visible the dependencies within which we all operate, value and compensate care work, build accountability to communities rather than seeking individual recognition, and understand liberation as collective rather than personal. Interdependence means being honest about what we need, building structures of mutual aid, and recognizing that those marginalized by multiple systems often possess deep practices of interdependence and collective care. Centering interdependence shifts the entire frame from individual achievement to collective flourishing.