Language and Power: Reframing Corruption Discourse

Sor Juana was a master of language and rhetoric. She understood how words shape reality: how calling women 'naturally inferior' maintains patriarchy, how certain framings seem inevitable while alternatives seem impossible. Corruption survives partly through linguistic normalization. Bribes are called 'facilitation fees,' embezzlement becomes 'administrative costs,' nepotism is 'supporting family.' Anti-corruption requires linguistic consciousness: naming practices clearly, refusing euphemisms, insisting on accurate terminology. When we call corrupt officials 'thieves,' when we describe bribery as 'theft of public resources,' we shift how people understand these acts. Language shapes what counts as corruption and who counts as corrupt. Societies where elites have language-making power often exclude their own misconduct from the definition of corruption. Sor Juana's model demands challenging linguistic control: creating space for alternative descriptions, amplifying marginalized accounts, building vocabulary for accountability. Media literacy, public education in critical discourse analysis, and journalistic insistence on precise language are anti-corruption tools. Corruption thrives in linguistic fog; clarity and honest naming are foundational to fighting it.