Student as Producer is set between the student protests and urban riots that erupted in England in 2010-2011 and the 2017 General Election, during which students and young people played a significant role by protesting the politics of austerity and by supporting the politics of Corbynism. This revolutionary curriculum is framed around unlearning the law of labor and the institutions through which the law of labor is enforced, including the capitalist university which seeks growth and expansion for the sake of growth, neglecting the needs of students in favor of the needs of the capitalist state.

Through thought experiments and reference to the work of the Soviet legal theorist, Evgeny Pashukanis, Student as Producer searches for solutions to how cooperatives might be brought about by a sense of common purpose and social defense. Mike Neary grounds his answers in a version of Marx's social theory known as 'a new reading of Marx', as advanced by authors such as Werner Bonefeld and Moishe Postone. The theory is applied to various aspects of pedagogy, criminology, and political sociology to create a curricula for revolutionary teaching that will aid activists who are seeking ways in which to engage critically with higher education.