Remedial Justice for Intellectual Theft

Much of Sor Juana's work was lost, suppressed, or attributed to others after her death. Her intellectual contributions were minimized, her reputation attacked, her writings denied circulating. This pattern of erasure and theft has been inflicted systematically on women scholars, colonized peoples, and marginalized thinkers throughout history. Libertarian justice must include remedial mechanisms: restoring attribution, recovering suppressed texts, protecting against future appropriation, and compensating those whose intellectual labor was stolen. This concept moves beyond merely preventing future violations to actively restoring the record and honoring the rights of those whose voices were silenced. Applied today, it supports reparative scholarship, the recovery of marginalized intellectual traditions, and strong protections against plagiarism and misattribution. It also suggests that institutions that benefit from past thefts of intellectual labor bear responsibilities to acknowledge and remedy that history. Sor Juana's legacy itself exemplifies the ongoing work of intellectual restitution and justice.