Understanding that corruption often begins by controlling who has access to information and education, making intellectual freedom a prerequisite for just institutions.
Sor Juana lived in a time when women were systematically excluded from advanced education, theological study, and intellectual discourse. This exclusion was not accidental; it was a mechanism of control. Those who control knowledge control narratives, decisions, and power itself. Corruption thrives in information asymmetries—when leaders know things citizens don't, when insiders hide facts from the public, when specialized knowledge becomes a tool of domination rather than liberation. Sor Juana's defense of her right to study, to access libraries and intellectual communities, was thus a profound anti-corruption act. She understood that empowering people through education and information access threatens corrupt hierarchies. The concept 'Knowledge as Power' reminds us that fighting corruption requires democratizing access to information: transparency laws, educational opportunity, freedom of information, and the protection of investigative journalism. When knowledge is hoarded by elites, corruption persists in darkness. When it is widely accessible, scrutiny becomes possible, accountability becomes feasible, and corrupt actors face exposure. Intellectual access is not merely a personal right; it is a structural requirement for justice.
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