The Right to Refuse Institutional Coercion

Sor Juana's retreat to the convent, then her renunciation of writing under ecclesiastical pressure, illustrate the tragic limits of refusing coercion when exit costs are prohibitive. Libertarian justice demands that no institution—religious, governmental, or social—may compel compliance through force or deprivation. Sor Juana lacked true exit options; she could not simply leave and retain her property, autonomy, or livelihood. This concept examines how libertarian freedom requires not just the theoretical right to refuse, but material conditions enabling real refusal. It challenges systems that weaponize dependence—poverty, lack of education, family control—to eliminate genuine choice. Applied to modern life, it asks: do workers, students, women, and minorities possess authentic refusal rights, or only illusions of consent?