Testimony as Property Claim and Act of Justice

Sor Juana's letters, particularly her 'Response to Sor Filotea,' constitute testimony: claims of authorship over her own intellectual life, her choices, and her refusal to be silenced. In the context of libertarian justice, testimony is a critical practice. It asserts: this experience is mine; this thought originated in me; this voice belongs to me. Testimony claims property in one's own narrative and refuses the appropriation of one's story by others. For those systematically denied property rights, testimony becomes an act of reclamation—asserting ownership over what cannot be taken away: one's own account of one's life and thought. Sor Juana's written testimony has endured centuries, proving that the property claimed through authentic speech outlasts the institutions that tried to silence it. Justice requires protecting the right to testify, to speak ownership of one's experience and ideas.