I’m specifically interested in contemporary critiques of individualist vs. collectivist societies, the challenges of meaning-making in the western world, critiques of American “exceptionalism” or theories on individual’s notions of self and role in society…
Very broad I know, but really just looking for good, thought-provoking reads that are not overly academic.
Sounds like you’re looking for something along the lines of Toqueville’s Democracy in America, only more recent?
Exactly!
Go find “The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently…and Why” by Richard E. Nisbett. Very good read.