Intellectual Sovereignty and Self-Determination

Intellectual sovereignty is the foundational claim that colonized peoples possess the right to generate, validate, and transmit their own knowledge without external gatekeepers. Sor Juana's relentless pursuit of learning despite institutional constraints exemplifies this principle—she carved intellectual autonomy within a restrictive colonial system. For postcolonial identity, this concept reclaims epistemic authority, rejecting the colonial premise that Western frameworks alone constitute legitimate knowledge. Decolonization requires establishing independent research traditions, educational systems, and intellectual institutions that center indigenous and local ways of knowing. This means validating non-Western philosophies, sciences, and epistemologies as equally rigorous and authoritative. Sor Juana's defense of women's right to study—and by extension, anyone's right to pursue knowledge—becomes a template for demanding cognitive justice and the institutional support necessary for intellectual self-determination across postcolonial societies.