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.»Družbena mobilnost« je koncept, ki slovenskemu zgodovinopisju ni neznan, vendar je bil doslej razmeroma redko in parcialno uporabljen. Med problemsko izrazito zanemarjene vidike sodijo družbena mobilnost v času več generacij, razmerja med individualno in skupinsko mobilnostjo ter gibanje posameznikov in skupin po družbeni lestvici navzdol. Predmet pričujoče monografije so pojavi in procesi, ki spremljajo ali so sestavni del daljnosežnih družbenih premikov. V opredelitvi »družbena in identitetna mobilnost« so v grobem zajeti trije temeljni elementi: 1) mobilnost posameznikov, skupnosti in skupin na družbeni lestvici v krajšem in daljšem časovnem izseku, 2) spremembe v njihovi identiteti, ki so z družbeno mobilnostjo neposredno ali posredno povezane, in 3) mobilnost kolektivnih identitet, ugotovljiva skozi daljša časovna obdobja. Vse tri naštete elemente vključuje tudi t. i. konfesionalna mobilnost (spreminjanje konfesionalne pripadnosti), ki ima svoje specifičnosti, a je hkrati neredko tesno povezana z družbeno oziroma z identitetno mobilnostjo ter z vprašanjem konfesionalne identitete kot take
