Poverty narratives have become an unprecedented source of empowerment. Yet, indiscriminate misuse risks devastating repercussions for the weakest members of society.

Amrita Narlikar is President of the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and Professor at Hamburg University. Her previous books include Bargaining with a Rising India (co-authored, 2014), The Oxford Handbook on the World Trade Organization (co-edited, 2012), and Deadlocks in Multilateral Negotiations (edited, Cambridge, 2010).

1. Introduction: poverty narratives and power paradoxes; 2. The disempowered many: when the weak suffered what they must; 3. Winning against the odds: a growing empowerment; 4. When fair is foul and foul is fair: overuse and misuse of the poverty narrative; 5. Conclusion: how to sustain the power of the powerless and build winning narratives.