Even though the concept of “social mobility” is not completely unfamiliar in Slovenian historiography, it has so far been used only rarely and partially. The most neglected aspects in addressing this topic include social mobility across several generations, relationships between individual and group mobility, and the downward social movement of individuals and groups. The subject of the monograph ('Social and identity mobility in the Slovenian territory between the late Middle Ages and the 20th Century') are phenomena and processes accompanying or (co)constituting long-term social movements. The definition “social and identity mobility” roughly encompasses three basic elements: 1) social mobility of individuals, communities, and groups over shorter and longer periods of time; 2) changes in their identity that are directly or indirectly related to social mobility, and 3) mobility of collective identities determinable over longer periods of time. All three elements listed above are also included in the so-called confessional mobility (changes in confessional affiliation), which has its own unique characteristics, and is often closely related to social or identity mobility and to the question of confessional identity as such.