Intersectional Analysis of Climate Oppression

Sor Juana navigated simultaneous oppressions—as a woman, an intellectual, a colonial subject, someone of mixed heritage—and her work reveals how different systems of domination reinforce each other. Intersectional climate analysis recognizes that those least responsible for emissions suffer most: women in Global South nations, Indigenous peoples, communities of color, the poor. Climate crisis doesn't affect everyone equally; it amplifies existing injustices. A woman farmer in Bangladesh faces climate drought plus patriarchal land rights plus colonial economic structures. This framework demands we analyze climate justice through overlapping lenses of gender, race, class, and colonial history simultaneously. Sor Juana's example shows that rigorous intellectual work must illuminate these connections. Climate solutions that ignore gender oppression or perpetuate colonialism fail. For climate justice, intersectionality means centering those facing multiple oppressions in solution design, recognizing how climate action can deepen or dismantle interconnected harms, and building movements that address all liberation struggles together.