‘To take birth as a poor man itself is a big punishment. We are facing many difficulties and there is none to support us. We cannot die also. … Our condition is like applying perfumed oil to mustache when there is no food to eat.’ – Male focus group discussion, Appipuram, Andhra Pradesh India has experienced accelerating growth in the last 10 years, yet millions of Indians remain mired in poverty. Why? Most books on growth and poverty reduction are dominated by the perspectives of policy makers and academic experts. ‘Moving Out of Poverty: The Promise of Empowerment and Democracy in India’ brings together the voices of poor men and women from 300 villages across Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, as it seeks to understand how these people have managed to escape poverty, while others remain stuck, and still others fall into poverty. The study explores the role of institutions such as family, markets and local panchayats, and factors such as aspiration, empowerment, social exclusion and conflict, health and asset accumulation, in explaining escape from poverty and falling into poverty.