Words as Weapons: Climate Discourse and Rhetorical Justice

Sor Juana was masterful rhetorician, understanding that how ideas are expressed shapes what people understand as possible and necessary. Climate discourse currently uses language that obscures responsibility: 'climate change' sounds natural rather than caused; 'carbon footprint' suggests individual responsibility rather than systemic; 'developing nations' implies Global South aspires to destructive Northern model. This concept applies rhetorical analysis and strategy to climate justice. Reframing climate crisis as outcome of specific economic systems and historical choices, not inevitable human nature, opens space for systemic solutions. Naming environmental racism, colonialism, and extractive capitalism directly rather than discussing 'vulnerable populations' centers justice. Using words like 'climate reparations,' 'ecological debt,' 'climate apartheid' communicates that this is fundamentally about justice, not technical adjustment. Sor Juana's rhetorical sophistication—strategic arguments that respected authority while subverting it—provides model for climate communicators who must make radical positions intelligible within mainstream discourse. Words shape imagination of what's possible; choosing language carefully becomes political strategy. Climate movements must insist on accurate language that reveals systems and possibilities rather than obscuring them through neutral technical terminology.