Recent Eurobarometer surveys in 1996 and 1999 show that Finland has very low risk perception in relation to biotechnology when compared to other similarly knowledgeable, technologically advanced European countries. This article explores factors that may contribute to relatively low risk perceptions in relation to biotechnology. Inglehart's materialist-postmaterialist schema is used to analyze values in postindustrial Finland as a background to public risk perception. In Finland, uniquely, postindustrial socioeconomic conditions may coexist with traditionally materialist values. Finnish risk perceptions in relation to biotechnology are a proxy for the study of the interrelationships between industrial (economic) modernization and cultural values in contemporary European societies.
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