From Gray to Red: Party Building and the Transformation of Beijing’s Zhejiangcun

Abstract

ABSTRACT The representative migrant enclave in Beijing, Zhejiangcun, was a ‘gray’ lawless zone outside the ‘red’ socialist order from the perspective of the Chinese Communist Party, subject to the government’s crackdown and demolition. However, Zhejiangcun surprised everyone by developing into a ‘red’ space through the grassroots Party-building by its peasant migrant businessmen, starting with the establishment of Beijing’s first Party branch of floating Party members in 1995 which now commands 26 Party branches. This article examines this astounding transformation of Zhejiangcun from ‘gray’ to ‘red,’ by providing answers to how Zhejiangcun was able to construct and develop a Party organization even before the ‘Three Represents’ and, in turn, how this Party organization contributed to the success and survival of Zhejiangcun’s migrant businessmen.