Spaces, Societies and Health: Rites of Passage Preface by Mandjou Yattara

"Rites of passage in Africa" is the theme of this issue 3 of the FESCAURI Papers. The theme has been treated from different angles by resource persons whom we would like to thank here, notably Bakary Toumanion, who describes rites of passage as a normative framework for adolescent sexuality; Blanchard Makanga, who talks about rites of passage as a vertical co-existential relationship in different communities and in different times; Souleymane Dolo, who compares the circumcision rites of the Dogons of Sangha and the Malinkes of Siby; Dragoss Ouédraogo, who brings to life the Joro initiation rites of young Lobi people in Burkina Faso; Moussa Bagayoko, who explores the concepts of ritual agriculture in the face of declining agricultural production in the village of Kalassa (Siby); and Birama Bagayogo, who analyzes the activities of gender-based violence management through the interpretative scheme of rites of passage