Juridical Personhood and Environmental Rights

Sor Juana inhabited a system denying her juridical equality—her intellectual authority was questioned precisely because she was a woman without formal institutional standing. Environmental justice faces parallel barriers: marginalized communities and ecosystems lack legal personhood to claim damages or prevention. Recent frameworks grant rivers and forests legal rights in some jurisdictions, yet this remains rare. This concept merges Sor Juana's advocacy for expanded human dignity with ecological jurisprudence: environmental burdens should trigger legal protection for both affected communities and damaged ecosystems. Applied to environmental justice: establishing legal standing for low-income neighborhoods to sue polluters, recognizing Indigenous land rights as environmental rights, and creating courts or mechanisms where ecological harm itself constitutes violation deserving remedy. The principle: those bearing environmental burden possess inherent rights to protection and restoration, regardless of economic status or traditional legal recognition.