Heterodox approaches to systems development and business management: Integrating Regenerative development and Humanistic management into Life-affirming organizations

This is an interdisciplinary contribution that engages with the ongoing debate surrounding the vulnerabilities and paradoxes of the still-dominant neoliberal paradigm, particularly as reflected in the current global polycrisis. What makes this work both innovative and timely is its commitment to “life-affirming economic heterodox” approaches that advocate for a fundamental departure from neoliberal models, grounding in principles that value all forms of life and uphold the integrity of socio-ecological systems. Informed by Waddock’s call (2022) for a “new life-affirming economic orthodoxy”, which proposes integrating various strands of economic heterodoxy into a cohesive framework, this PhD thesis aims to integrate two such approaches, Regenerative Development (RD) and Humanistic Management (HM), developed in the fields of systems development and business management, into a framework that defines life-affirming organizations. Tourism is used as a case domain to both critique neoliberal forms of tourism and their impacts and explore the transformative potential of life-affirming approaches in fostering socio-ecological well-being in tourism management and development.