Martin’s home base was Scandinavia, but he felt equally at home when, as guest lecturer or conference speaker, he journeyed from the Baltic Sea to the River Plate, from the Bosporus to the coast of New England. He participated in research projects under the auspices of or funded by UNESCO, the EU Framework Programmes, the Nordic Council’s research programme NordForsk, and the Swedish Council for Planning and Co-ordination of Research. A prolific writer, he published works on identity, urban and rural development, cultural encounters, industrial democracy, research policy, the threatening dismantling of the welfare state, and social inclusion and exclusion.