Justice as Identity Framework

Sor Juana's work consistently connected intellectual identity to justice—she exposed how systems of power (colonialism, patriarchy, religious authority) constrained who could think, speak, and claim authority. Her tradition teaches that naming and identity are never merely personal; they are embedded in structures of justice and injustice. When certain names are marginalized, certain identities are criminalized, or certain people are denied the right to self-definition, this is fundamentally unjust. Identity across cultures must be understood through this framework: whose names are honored in official records? Whose identities are recognized by law? Who has the power to define cultural categories? This concept insists that supporting authentic identity is not cultural luxury but political necessity. It means challenging naming practices that erase indigenous peoples, criminalizing identities, denying recognition to immigrants, or enforcing binary categories. Justice requires honoring the names people claim for themselves and the identities they construct across cultural boundaries.