Changing for Good: Conceptualizing life-affirming organizations

Life-affirming heterodoxy encompasses approaches that call for a shift away from the extractivist economy and the pursuit of exponential growth, characteristic of neoliberal capitalism. Instead, it advocates for a new economic orthodoxy grounded in principles that prioritize life and safeguard the integrity of socio-ecological systems. These principles require a fundamental redefinition of business purpose and management practices. This article conceptualizes life-affirming organizations (LAOs) as values-based and purpose-driven entities that help catalyze this transformative shift in both the economy and society toward the creation of life-affirming systems. For this purpose, we adopt a multiparadigmatic approach to review and integrate two heterodox approaches in business management and development - Humanistic Management and Regenerative Development. Though rooted in different disciplines and offering different perspectives, both share a commitment to advancing the common good. Using bibliometric literature reviews and qualitative thematic analysis, we develop a framework for LAOs by synthesizing the humanistic “inside-out” perspective with the regenerative “outside-in” lens guided by life-affirming principles. The former, grounded in dignity, extends human agency from individuals to organizations and systems. In contrast, the latter views organizations as embedded within complex socioecological systems shaped by more-than-human agency. By integrating anthropocentric and ecocentric foundations, LAOs interweave living beings, organizational structures, and ecological systems to chart pathways for transformative, purpose- and values-driven change. This concept yields theoretical and practical contributions, offering guidelines to support human-nature synergy and the thriving of all life within businesses and human organizations.