Intersectional Impact Assessment

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz understood lived experience at multiple intersections: as a woman in a patriarchal system, as a mestiza in colonial hierarchy, as an intellectual with limited institutional power, as a nun balancing spiritual and intellectual calling. Her work demonstrates that justice issues are never singular but always intersectional. Applied to ethical consumption, this means assessing products through multiple justice frameworks simultaneously. A garment might be made by fairly-paid workers but source cotton from environmentally destructive monocultures. Coffee might be shade-grown and pesticide-free but fail to support indigenous land rights. Electronics might be made under improved labor conditions but extracted minerals from conflict zones. Intersectional assessment asks: Who is harmed and who benefits across all dimensions? Does this product advance gender equity while respecting indigenous sovereignty? Does environmental sustainability include labor justice? Which communities carry the burdens and which reap benefits? This approach prevents ethical consumption from becoming single-issue and ensures our choices support comprehensive justice rather than trading one form of exploitation for another. Sor Juana's example teaches us that integrity requires holding multiple commitments simultaneously.