The Rights of Invisible Workers

Sor Juana's writing consistently centered those made invisible by power structures—women, the poor, the enslaved. Her intellectual project included demanding their recognition. In contemporary ethical consumption, workers in distant factories, farms, and workshops remain invisible to consumers, allowing exploitation to continue. This concept insists on bringing these workers into visibility and demanding their rights be honored: safe conditions, fair compensation, freedom from coercion, and respect for dignity. Ethical consumption practices this visibility through deliberately seeking information about who made our clothes, grew our food, and assembled our devices. It means supporting certification systems that verify worker protections and refusing to participate in markets predicated on their invisibility. Sor Juana's legacy demands we ask: whose labor enables my comfort? And am I willing to pay its true cost? This transforms consumption into a practice of recognizing and honoring the humanity of those whose work we depend upon.