I am in here taking a strong stance against CC, but I am happy to agree with you and steel-man your point: I think Clean Code is perfectly fine and workable in academic and single-developer software projects.
I think most of this pushback (certainly all of mine) is about it creeping into production environments and exacerbating personality traits that tend to be problematic in team settings, which does not invalidate the abstract idea and should instead be scoped to its practice.
I'm not seeking these people out to hate on them, but when I encounter them the social and code environments around them always exhibit the same dysfunctions. I've seen it multiple times. When your team is threatening to quit because they can't stand working with you, the problem is _probably_ with you and not them. And when you get fired and bugs go down, velocity goes up, and the morale problems disappear, it's now obvious that the problem was you. It's not a hand wavy theoretical take, it's a consistent pattern from dozens of instances at a variety of companies.
Clean Code zealots are consistently some of the least likable, least productive, least pragmatic people I have ever worked with. I've had multiple clients where the whole team is threatening to quit unless the CC zealot is fired. And when they are fired guess what - bugs go down, shipped features go up, and meetings become productive. "Idiots who froth at the mouth" is an understatement IMO
I think most of this pushback (certainly all of mine) is about it creeping into production environments and exacerbating personality traits that tend to be problematic in team settings, which does not invalidate the abstract idea and should instead be scoped to its practice.