Knowledge as an Act of Resistance

For Sor Juana, learning was not a luxury but a weapon against erasure. In a context where women were encouraged to remain intellectually dependent and passive, her voracious study of theology, philosophy, mathematics, and languages was an act of quiet rebellion. She resisted not through violence but through the authority that knowledge grants. Every civilization that has systematized oppression has simultaneously restricted information and education to the oppressed. Conversely, every liberation movement has involved the reclamation of learning and truth-telling. The Periagoge concept recognizes that fairness work includes supporting people's right to develop expertise, to document their own histories, and to challenge false narratives about themselves. Knowledge-seeking is not neutral; it is inherently tied to justice.