James has a background in medical sociology and gerontology. He is interested in digital ageing and creative methods, with a focus on cognitive impairment and inclusive data generation.
His research covers several areas of the political economy of ageing and dementia, with an emphasis on using social theory and creative methods to understand later life disability as a political entity. He has published on subjects including informal dementia care networks, mental capacity legislation and its influence on research governance, the anti-ageing technoscience market, anti-stigma and awareness raising campaigns regarding psychiatric disorder, the operationalisation of ethnicity and age in research, the biomarker discovery economy, the curation of dementia-friendly cultural events, dementia prevention public health strategies, environmental effects on cognition in urban settings and the role of fertility technologies in contexts of reproductive ageing. His book The Biopolitics of Dementia won 'Best Outstanding Output' at the Research Excellence Awards 2024.
As well as traditional publication, James also develops digital and multimedia content. He produced the research podcast series Health & Society with King's College London, as well as the short film The Care-Full Home for Sociological Research Online, a satirical exploration of the rollout of AI-assisted smart technologies in the homes of older people. His recent Wellcome Trust funded work to create an interactive cognitive map of Greater Manchester resulted in the short film IN-CITU and a 'moving exhibiton' of photographs and data poems created with passengers with dementia and displayed across the regional bus network.