The values of pallets :an ethnography of exchange in the warehouse of an Italian supermarket.

Based on ethnographic research carried out in an Italian supermarket, this article discusses the role of European Pallet Association (EPAL) pallets as especially valued objects in the social economy of its warehouse. Pallet exchanges and the processes of value conversion they entail are framed in the context of the supermarket as a workplace where the connecting and individualizing elements of exchange relationships are analysed. Pallets travel around in a commodity context where the value of things is equated with their price. Yet, participation in pallet exchange allows for the creation of a community of practice between warehousemen and drivers, as well as enabling them to establish their distinctive roles and status as men whose work has to do with the ‘making’ of commodities.