Her work focuses on the role of sound in contemporary forms of knowledge, value, pleasure, embodiment, and capital. With a practical background in classical and popular music performance, and an academic background in music and philosophy, James uses sound art as a way to creatively examine the issues in feminist/queer/critical race/disability studies, continental philosophy, and music studies that she explore in her theoretical writing. Her theoretical work addresses the interaction between musical/audiological institutions and systems of political organization (like gender or race). She has published in venues including The New Inquiry, Hypatia, The Journal of Popular Music Studies, and Contemporary Aesthetics, and she is also the author of The Conjectural Body: Gender, Race, and the Philosophy of Music. She blogs about all of this at its-her-factory.blogspot.com.