Anna Žabicka, a researcher at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Faculty of Social Sciences, has received the 2026 Frobenius Research Promotion Prize for her PhD dissertation, All Roads Lead to the Pansionāts: State Care as a Socio-Spatial Fix in an Emptying Rural Latvia.
The Frobenius Research Promotion Prize is awarded annually to early-career researchers for outstanding dissertations in social and cultural anthropology. The selection committee assesses the quality of the ethnography, the originality of the topic, the clarity of the argument and structure, and the linguistic quality of the work. The prize is endowed with €3,000.
Žabicka’s dissertation explores the role of residential care homes in rural Latvia, where communities are facing population decline. Her research shows that a care home is not only a place providing care, but can also serve as an important anchor for local employment, social relationships and community life.
The research is based on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork at a residential care institution, where Anna Žabicka lived alongside residents and staff, exploring their everyday experiences. Her fieldwork continued over several years, with repeated visits to the institution and additional shorter periods of fieldwork. In her dissertation, she examines how care, demographic change and the future of rural communities are interconnected.
“I am particularly pleased that my dissertation has been recognised by an institute specialising in anthropology. General university awards for outstanding dissertations do not always fully capture the specific nature of anthropology as a discipline and its scholarly contribution. The Frobenius Institute’s award, by contrast, represents recognition from within the discipline itself and from fellow anthropologists.”
This international recognition highlights the contribution of her research to social anthropology and to a deeper understanding of societal change.
Learn more about Anna Žabicka’s research in the experience story created by ResearchLatvia.
