The Saami council's role in the institutionalization of pansaamism

The authors consider the Saami Council as the center for the formation of pan-Saami politics and development of the Saami ethno-political movement in the Arctic region. Conducted analysis, based on the neo-institutional method, demonstrates the Council’s role in organizing and consolidating the Saami people as functionally linked to the development and implementation of a program for lobbying the ethno-political interests of the Saami people on the base of cross-border cooperation.