Institutional Critique from Within

Sor Juana became a valued poet and intellectual within the Church hierarchy while writing subversive theology and defending women's rights—a position of structural contradiction that offered both power and vulnerability. Institutional critique from within recognizes that transforming oppressive systems often requires people positioned inside them to work for change. In intersectional organizations, this means creating space for internal critics, protecting whistleblowers, and recognizing that the most powerful change agents often work from within. However, it also requires honesty about the costs and constraints: insider critics cannot say everything, cannot push as far as external activists, and risk co-optation. In practice, this means building networks of internal and external actors with different roles and freedoms. It means defending employees and members who raise concerns about racism, sexism, and other oppressions within their institutions, understanding this as intersectional accountability work rather than disloyalty.