As Occupy readies to re-enter the spotlight, the movement faces serious internal debates about its goals – and how to get there

Zuccotti Park was busy last week. Basking in bright sunshine, construction workers from the nearby Ground Zero building site ate sandwiches on its benches, tourists snapped photos and people in suits strode through on the way to Wall Street.

But the only sign that the small downtown Manhattan square had last year been the centre of a global protest movement that electrified American politics were a trio of police officers who stood watch over the milling lunchtime crowds.

But Occupy Wall Street, whose occupation of Zuccotti inspired hundreds of other Occupy groups across the US, is determined to revive itself after a winter of reduced activities and the often violent police removal of its protest encampments in city centres across America.

Activists and organisers have vowed to carry out a massive upsurge in activities on a broad range of issues in a bid to revitalise a movement whose "We are the 99%" slogan triggered a national debate on income inequality.

Fresh protests and demonstrations have already begun with a major push scheduled for May 1. Supporters are gearing up for an election year marked by Republican and Democratic party conventions in August and September as well as a Nato summit in Chicago in May.

"I'm really looking forward to an incredible summer of discontent where it is like public dissent is the flow of all summer and that's what the headline is. That people are pissed. People are outraged. People want something new and they're not interested in the elections," said Sandy Nurse, a long-time Occupy Wall Street organiser.

But there are serious challenges ahead for the Occupy movement as it seeks to have the same impact in 2012 as it did in 2011. Over the winter it has morphed into a much broader spectrum of interests and activities. Many Occupy groups have shed supporters, some have disappeared and others have moved beyond a focus on income inequality to take on environmental issues, oppose foreclosures and get involved in a myriad of other social issues.

Some observers say that has seen the movement start to fade from public consciousness as something new and turn into something that looks more like a conventional set of protest causes. "Occupy Wall Street could be a chapter in American history or it could be a footnote. It does seem it is going down the path towards footnote," said Dominic Tierney, a political scientist at Swarthmore College.

That sort of analysis angers many Occupy supporters. They defend the organisation's leaderless structure and argue that it has been the most successful left-leaning protest movement in recent American history in terms of getting people to talk about issues previously considered outside the mainstream. Even some Republican presidential candidates this year, like unlikely figures Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, have adopted some of its anti-capitalist rhetoric. "I think Occupy is in the sort of national language," said Lisa Fithian, an Occupy participant and civil disobedience trainer.

But going forward there are serious internal divisions and debates. In Detroit, local Occupy organiser Lee Gaddies said activists planned to engage with the troubled city's political system, running candidates in local elections or helping those who endorse Occupy's beliefs.

That goes against what many other Occupy groups – especially in New York – believe as they advocate for working outside existing political parties and the electoral system. "We think that what works is getting people from your movement into office and then holding them accountable," Gaddies said.

There is also a raging debate over tactics when it comes to dealing with the police. Last year violent police responses to Occupy protesters, including pepper spraying and the serious injury of a veteran in Oakland, helped propel the movement into the media spotlight, but also allowed it to be defined by street conflict rather than its social aims.

New York activist and live-streamer Tim Pool believes that was Occupy's biggest mistake last year. "I feel like in Oakland, their Occupy movement turned into a protester versus police thing and it is sort of distracting away from the real problems," he said.

Occupy Oakland protester and veteran Scott Olsen is seen lying on the ground after he was apparently hit by a projectile at a protest. Photograph: screengrab via YouTube

Some observers believe it also helped radicalise the core of the movement, where activists faced repeated police attempts to prevent protests or break up encampments and often used violent methods to do so. In all, more than 6,800 arrests have been linked to Occupy protests in more than 113 different US cities.

That perhaps explains why recent Occupy protests in New York have centred on police brutality and the killing of black Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. But it also might detract from the central message of economic disparity that formed the heart of the initial anti-Wall Street and anti-capitalist protests when Occupy first set up camp in Zuccotti Park.

"The amount of people participating in the Occupy protests, at least in New York, it's not a significant number right now," said Pool.

Yet there are a lot of things going on. Though initial plans for a "general strike" for May 1 look unlikely, in New York at least, a broad coalition of local unions have decided to support Occupy protests on that day. Across the country many Occupy groups are taking action to prevent foreclosures under the banner of Occupy Homes.

The +Brigades have sprung up to carry out protest actions linked to humor, partly in order to defuse police violence. Another target is Bank of America, with activists seeking to break up the gigantic financial institution that was the recipient of a government bailout. Activists are seeking to persuade people to move money out of the bank's accounts and highlight instances of fraud.

Many of these actions happen under the media radar, but supporters say that doesn't mean it is not important or effective in winning support. "If you can say: 'Hey, look at what we've done, America. Look what what we've done for these small groups of people,' then maybe they'll listen," said Malik Rhasaan, founder of Occupy the Hood, which seeks to bring the movement into local communities.

Some experts warn that any attempt to dismiss Occupy in 2012 is premature. Professor Christine Kelly, a political scientist at William Paterson University, said that Occupy had already confounded expectations once by turning into the success it did.

It might do so a second time, she said. She also said that the movement should not be judged by the standards set by normal political parties because it had not set out to be one. "It's job is to generate disruptive energy from below. They are doing that very well. If you judge it like you would judge a political party, then it becomes a stupid conversation," she said.

Kelly added that many of the conditions that propelled Occupy – such as joblessness, foreclosure and massive student debts – had diminished little over the winter. That should ensure a wellspring of public support as the summer goes on.

Activists agree. "We've really managed to bring this massive outrage and discontent into the public sphere," said Nurse.

In Occupy Portland, in Oregon, local organiser David Osborn shrugged off any doubts about reduced support. They key thing, he said, was that people's minds across America had been opened to the possibility of change. "It is possible things won't be as crazy as they were last fall. There won't be the same numbers. But I don't think that's a problem at all."