Today, the development of a scientifically based concept of economic security management at the territorial level is facing serious difficulties. The generally accepted economic paradigm no longer makes it possible to effectively investigate, for example, such a socio-economic phenomenon as economic security. The evolution of methods of economic territorial research is influenced by the development of economic thought. The purpose of the study is to generalize the theoretical material on the research topic and to select the most promising modern paradigm concept of managing the economic security of the region. The author analyzes the problems of using the "Adam Smith" paradigm and draws conclusions about the expediency of using the evolutionary economic paradigm. This will allow, among other things, to consider the economic system of the region as self-developing. To develop an adequate concept of managing the economic security of the region, it is proposed to use the human-centered principle. As a result, the use of the quality of life of the population as an estimated indicator of the level of economic security of the region is yustified.